Monday, May 27, 2013

Always Remember

Parade photography by Meera Rao 

I think on this day, one way to honor the sacrifices of thousands of brave soldiers is to make sure we never call them to give up their lives without just cause.  

"Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism"
George Washington

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

There is a Crack in Everything

Light Gets In  photography by Meera Rao      

"There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in"
Leonard Cohen, Selected Poems, 1956-68

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The Creative Spirit

colonial girl   watercolor sketch 6x6" by Meera Rao 

"Creativity entails taking appropriate risks, and courage allows you to use your intuition and will."
From the book "The Creative Spirit"  by Goleman, Kaufman and Ray 

In the past few days I had the opportunity to see  Warhol Out West  showcasing Andy Warhol's 60 of the iconic pop art paintings & photographs and 'Working South: Mary Whyte' - huge breathtaking watercolors capturing the essence of people in vanishing or dramatically changing industries in the south.  Both give brilliant insight into the culture and life in the US but in very different ways!  Andy Warhol's paintings showed audacity while Mary Whyte's paintings are laced with sensitivity.  Needless to say I was very impressed with both.  

Both the shows have made me think about creativity, genius, talent, passion, discipline, and of course in my case- fear and anxiety! In reading about their lives and looking at their art it became obvious to me that both had faith in their creativity, listened to their own voices, had acute awareness of their environment, and asked some powerful questions.       

Mary Whyte wrote in her book "An Artist's way of Seeing" :  You must know where 'you' begin, what it is that your heart is responding to. In knowing yourself, then you will know what it is you really want to paint, or sing, or plant, or write. With this self awareness comes the confidence to trust your creative intuition. And when you finally know what it is you want to express, say it loud and with perfect clarity, with every ounce of your being, so the whole world will hear. Not everyone will appreciate or understand your message, but it won't matter.  You will have made use of your talent, and you will have said what it is you wanted to say.

At any age, your ultimate creation is what you make of yourself........And what you make of yourself will be manifested in everything you express. Just remember, everyone is wired to do one thing really well. The difficult part is discovering what ii is. Harder still is believing you can do it. Fear and lack of confidence keep many artists from even trying." 

I think life and art in the end is all about having the courage, the audacity, faith and passion! 

Monday, May 6, 2013

The Art of Listening

sketch in pen by Meera Rao

I discovered that sketching and listening to a lecture are not compatible for me when I did this piece a while ago.  He was talking about physics & philosophy and soon I realized that I was so deeply engrossed in observing his features, light, shadows etc that I was not  'listening' to his points at all!  Usually I listen to Public radio talk programs and draw, sketch or paint without any problem.  On this particular instance though, I failed miserably at multitasking :) I then closed by sketch book, put my pen away and concentrated on his talk. This really made me wonder how much of those radio programs do I really 'hear'!!!  I can't remember much of what he said but my takeaway from that day is that true listening requires concentration and processing :).  No wonder it is called the 'art of listening.' 
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...