Friday, August 6, 2010

Language of the Soul


The Dancer watercolor on Yupo 14x11"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music " - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzche

I am really enjoying painting on Yupo - learning with each new piece.  In The Dancer I played again with just paint, water, brush. Yupo surface was perfect to bring out the silky transparency of the bellowing skirt and the veils.  I used a bunch of  photographs taken many years ago  at a dance demonstration and  added my own background of veils. I finished the lady more than a week ago and then waited for inspiration to resolve the background. Since this is yupo I may yet come back to it after a few days :)

Over the years, every time I saw those photographs, or I see someone totally absorbed in creating art, music or anything else, I am reminded of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's concept of 'Flow.'  According to Mihaly, Flow is completely focused motivation. It is single minded immersion and represents perhaps the ultimate in harnessing emotions in the service of performing and learning. Check out this video of a TED talk by Mihaly on 'Flow' - creativity and happiness.

17 comments:

Anudeepa Kadiresan said...

Nice video meera and the theme is great:)

Meera Rao said...

Thank you Anudeepa, I am glad you enjoyed the video. Mihaly's research on creativity, happiness and 'flow' is pretty impressive and inspiring.

Nutan said...

Loved the colors, theme and flow. You have amazing talent.

Meera Rao said...

Thanks Nutan! I had fun painting it :)

padmaja said...

So different from what you usually create.. you proved that you are multi talented..fabulous job Meera!

AK said...

The textures on the skirt are so interesting. Brilliant.

Meera Rao said...

Thank you Padmaja and AK :) i am discovering the amazing variety of textures that can happen on Yupo.

M R Anand said...

yupo paper..wow! I like the flow in the painting! very interesting experiments and always something new!

Meera Rao said...

Thank you, Sparrowhawk :) I always learn so much when I am trying new things --otherwise it is too easy for me to stick to status quo. And thank you visiting my blog.

Crystal Cook said...

Gorgeous color in this Meera, and the gesture of the dancer is fantastic. I love it :)

Meera Rao said...

Crystal, thank you:) the yupo definitely keeps the colors brilliant!

V. Deshmukh said...

Lovely painting. I love the choice of colours and also the texture that you have achieved. Best wishes.

Meera Rao said...

thank you Vinayak, I am still learning about textures on Yupo :)

Anonymous said...

such a gorgeous painting... love the colours of her dress..

Meera Rao said...

Thanks Patricia :)

Melanie Statnick said...

The orange scarf?? flowing around behind her gives this a nice flow

Meera Rao said...

Thanks!!! its feels good when I let my imagination take over :)

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