Day Twenty-Four – Taking It To The Streets

"All means are sacred which are called for by the inner need." 
—Wassily Kandinsky

I took my zen art to the sidewalks today, literally, with chalk. I created seven drawings, one on each segment with up to three colors each. I really enjoyed the spontaneity, while listening to music and letting the rhythms and inner spirit take over. I'm not sure if I'll continue to fill up the sidewalk or not. They are only temporary, giving them over to nature and foot traffic, and that's okay. Nothing lasts forever.

Speaking of music, I found it was difficult not to feel energy listening to Paul Simon's Graceland which is why I included it in yesterday's post title. The text was already getting long so I'm mentioning it today instead. There is just something joyful about South African rhythms. 

Day Twenty-Three – Going To Graceland

"That is beautiful which is produced by the inner need, which springs from the soul." —Wassily Kandinsky

After finishing reading "Concerning the Spiritual in Art" that I started yesterday, I felt ready to create some art again. No, make that I felt the need to make art. Kandinsky's theories on the importance and spiritual nature of art helped me identify certain barriers. It was time to intentionally give it a go to connect with my inner spirit with no preconception. So I started a black and white "zen drawing." My drawing pens are fine and extra fine black Sharpies, and Sakura archival gel pen on watercolor paper as I may want to color it later.

While it may bear a striking resemblance to another current popular B&W style, this is actually a type of drawing I've been doing for many years since I was a teen before there was a clever name, how-to courses and branded art media. I have my original sketchbooks to prove it. At the time, I was inspired to learn how to draw the ornate paisley fabric patterns many of my dresses were made of. I also was attracted to lacy crochet patterns. Later, the activity was relegated to helping me stay awake during staff meetings and phone calls. The kinetic activity also helped map my memory to the meeting information. I never took it seriously but it was always very therapeutic. Without a fancy name, it was little more than an excercise in line and repetition, otherwise called "doodling." My art teachers didn't encourage it however many of my art classmates like me just intuitively drew them but with their own personal style. It was more a spontaneous art style of the psychedelia hippie era.

I suppose like the genre of steampunk existed before it had a label, it was only a matter of time before this drawing style would be blessed with a name too. I just wish I had thought of it! But I also never thought that there would be mass interest in it or that it could be "taught" at all. It always felt like it was my personal style and mine alone. So Kudos to those with the vision to do so!

Day Twenty-Two – Brain Freeze

It's been three weeks since I started this daily commitment and the first day I experienced a complete creative mental block. I finally put my distracting phone and it's social media minions in time-out while picking up a craft magazine I'd already read. Then looking for something better to read and giving up on being creative for the day, fate had me pick up "Concerning the Spiritual in Art" by Wassily Kandinsky I had purchased at LACMA last year. Pretty cerebral stuff and too many concepts to discuss in this lowly blog post. But I tried to look for some helpful information for lifting my "petrified barriers" today. I ended up also turning to his essay, "On the problem of form."

Free Curve to the Point -
Accompanying Sound of Geometric Curves
Ink on paper - 1925, Wassily Kandinsky
image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Here's a few principles.
Kandinsky likes to operate in threes and triangles.

It is every artist's responsibility to:
1. Express his inner need and talent to create art
2. Help create a spiritual atmosphere through thoughts, feelings and actions
3. Shape and modify the spiritual atmosphere for the improvement of humanity.

What blocks the "good fertilizing white ray of creativity by the evil black death-bringing hand" of destruction:
1. Fear of the clear path (evolution of art)
2. Fear of freedom (allowance of new ideas)
3. Deafness to the spirit (haters, negative thoughts)

The barriers must be removed to allow the creative urges from the internal Abstract Spirit (content) to transform the external material (form). "The most important thing in the question of form is whether or not the form has grown out of the inner necessity." I guess I wasn't feeling the Spirit today. But my headache and stiff neck/shoulder is feeling better! Thank you Kandinsky.