Gold Squeeze
Watercolor Painting by Brad Rickerby
Letting go of the fear. For me that is what art is, what creativity is. I have to let go of the fear of failing and of succeeding. I have to get past being afraid of what people will think of my work. I have to let go, to be in the moment, to just create what I feel. When I do that, I free myself to access my inner joy. I am enveloped by serenity and contentment. It doesn't happen often and getting to that point is my hugest challenge in painting. But on the few occasions that I do, I invariably create something I love. Which is not to say that it is good, just that I adore it for the moment of peace the process has brought to me.
This painting and your words affect me on several levels. First the words. I took 2 drawing classes at a nearby junior college back in 1990 or so. What I found, which surprised me were new areas that I had control issues in. In order to create, I had to let go of the need to control and that felt scary.
ReplyDeleteOne time a teacher was visiting from another class. He came over to me and took my pencil and started making changes to what I was drawing. I felt angry and violated but sat there and said nothing. I didn't finish the drawing. It wasn't mine any longer. I don't know if other artists feel that way about their works or not but I did.
I guess that memory is what your painting and words brought up for me. I haven't told anyone else about how I felt that day. I haven't thought about it since that day. It would have been different if he had told me what to change and then let me do it but he didn't. By taking my pencil, he took away my control. Thanks for helping me to voice that with your art work and your words. You do help others to heal.
When I look at your painting, I see eyes closed. I so clearly see the eye lids and lashes in several places on the page. The red being the closed eye with black lashes overlapping onto the blue. In the blue, I see an old, wrinkled face with eyes open and staring staight ahead with no light coming from the eyes. Dead eyes staring staight ahead with no hope for a better tomorrow.
Remember, this is just my interpretation of what I see in your painting. It may be or may not be accurate for what you put into the painting. What I see in your painting is about me, not you or your message. Will have to think about this for awhile. I love your art.