Summer Art Retreat

Love poem #1

I've called myself an artist for nearly 50 years now, but often my feelings about art are a vortex of chaos, and it's painful and frustrating. Currently, I'm having a struggle with direction, and I'm being pulled in so many ways I'm feeling torn.

This spring and summer I've made a few interesting collage pieces. I stillI don't have a clear idea of next steps, but I trust that light will dawn if I keep faithful to the process. My starting point is the firm belief that art is a healing force in the world.

I've set aside parts of two days to dive in and muck around with art.

Agenda:

1. Read "The Creativity Book"

2. Clean the (metaphorical) refrigerator:

3. Guided meditation

4. Harvest drawings

5. Unity art plan

1. Read "The Creativity Book":

A few years ago I started but didn't finish this book by Eric Maisel (one of my favorite writers). The subtitle is "A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance." Who doesn't want that? 

I'm on Week 7: Wrestle with Your Demons. This chapter starts with the reminder that, "A creative person can manifest her potential in a bewildering number of ways today; but only if she can manifest that potential at all".

He talks about the inner voices that distract you, and call you No Good. 

While I still have my particular demons to tame, negative self talk is not a huge issue for me. The demon I'd like to tame is the fear of criticism by others: I let it hold me back, or spiral me into anger and obsessive circular thinking. It has deviled me all my life and at 65 years, I think I can take it on!

2. Clean my (metaphorical) refrigerator:

The first exercise for wrestling with my demons is to "Clean out Your Refrigerator". It's a ritual cleansing of your mind. 

Every morning I will remind myself to be brave, and let all criticism wash over me like the harmless hot air it usually is. My mantra will be: Roll with the Punches.

When the punch comes, I'll analyze it objectively: If criticism has a grain of truth, I'll admit it, and if it's false, I'll adamantly disagree (in my head), with "How dare you say that!" then I'll let it go out to the compost.

3. Guided meditation: 

Last summer I had a defined art practice, that got me outside weekly to my Sanctuary Garden to meditate and paint.

Today I will repeat that practice; I'll gather supplies, and my cup of coffee, and sit for an hour.

I'll begin by slowing my breathing, then I'll ask a higher power to come to me. Here's my prayer:

I call on the Creator of all life to be with me, and bless me. And I ask Nature to guide me, give me images, and insight, as I seek to heal myself, my community, and the Earth.  

Then I'll listen to this guided meditations that I taped last year - Meeting my Inner Artist: 

4. Harvest drawings:

After my meditation, I'll focus in on drawing the fruits of my garden harvest - cucumbers yesterday, and squashes today.

I'll use modified blind contour drawing - a meditative exercise that helps to develop hand-eye communication. Contours are the lines and edges; and blind contour drawing means drawing without looking at the paper. (I'll modify this by looking some of the time.) The goal is to really SEE the subject, without worrying about the end result. Tips:

• 
  Keep your eyes mostly on the subject; only glance at the paper a little. 
• 
  Draw very slowly. Move your eyes along the contours and your hand on the paper both at the same speed. Take your time and stay very focused.

5. Unity arts plans:

I've been experimenting with what I've been calling Medicine Art for about a year now, but I've recently decided to call it Unity Arts. My Unity Arts practice is designed to open the doors of creative healing, to heal our connection to the earth - to Creation. We are all (de facto) connected because we are a part of nature, but we have built walls to keep nature separate, because our culture is human focused; we've been taught that we are more important than other parts of nature, and that's a hard lesson to unlearn.

My Unity Arts practice starts with setting an intention to connect and find unity with a particular aspect of nature - maybe fall leaves, or my tomato harvest, or butterflies. It often requires a deep dive into the science and other aspects so I can even understand how we might connect. It requires observation and exploration, gathering in, and preparation.

Then comes the creativity: My mission is to use my creative fire to heal our connections to nature, and I use every skill I have: Creative gardening, preservation, crafting, writing, and painting. Sometimes I share a craft that can I teach others (craftivism), and sometimes it's artwork that I can hang on the wall. Often it's more of an every day art, like making pickles, or saving seeds ... these practices require as much skill.

My plan for August:

1. Research, write about, and practice first harvest tasks, such as pickling and saving seeds.
2. Study and write about Quaker aspects of permaculture, eco-justice, and unity with nature. Make a plan for action.
3. Study native plants and pollinators, such as bees, and plan an educational event for later in the fall. 
4. Plan my pollinator garden, and start some native plants indoors.
5. Practice art, including harvest drawings, butterfly and bee craftivism, and seed art with my grandson.