"In order to accomplish an experience, you have to have a chance to dance with it. You have to have a chance to play, to explore. Then each style of exploration that takes place is a different manifestation, we could say. Nevertheless, it is all part of one big game." -- Chogyam Trungpa
It's a good feeling to be surrounded by my totems again.
Just before the big clean-up,
I was sitting quietly
trying to trace back to a time when I didn't feel
that something was missing from my art practice
and it dawned on me
that I was no longer surrounded by my own art.
I've been setting my totems free too soon
and feeling empty without them.
There are now three completed pieces watching over me,
a work in progress nestles on the workbench
and the missing spark has returned.
"Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences." -- Brian Eno
When I met my muse by William Stafford
I glanced at her and took my glasses
off -- they were still singing. They buzzed
like a locust on the coffee table and then
ceased. Her voice belled forth, and the
sunlight bent. I felt the ceiling arch, and
knew that nails up there took a new grip
on whatever they touched. "I am your own
way of looking at things", she said. "When
you allow me to live with you, every
glance at the world around you will be
a sort of salvation." And I took her hand.
" .... and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own."
-- Mary Oliver (from The Journey, here)
"Do you keep your creative work close enough? Is it always available? Keep it so close that when you turn around you run right into it!" - Eric Maisel
I now have a better understanding of who, or what, my muse is.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad. The poem really spoke to me too. I love the buzz when art flows and falls effortlessly into place.
DeleteYour totems are amazing! And I understand how they act as protection and your muse. 'When I Met My Muse' is a perfect description and then Mary Oliver - she can say so much with so few words.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Thanks so much Judy. I'm on a Mary Oliver streak again. Her words always seem to hit home.
DeleteYour totems have a wonderful, quiet, benevolent spirit about them. I can understand why you like having them near you when you work. I'm so glad your muse has returned, and I look forward to seeing more!
ReplyDeleteThanks Starr. You're description of my totems makes me happy.
DeleteSuch an important thing to discover, Robyn. Beautiful totems to watch over you. I find that I need new paintings around for a while so I can be completely enveloped in the story that is coming through them. If I let them go too soon, I feel a bit unsure. And there are some paintings that just can't go. I think they hold the most important stories, and that my muse speaks through them.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of your beautiful tree series. It must feel as if you are in the forest when surrounded by your paintings.
DeleteHa... interesting... cause in my studio, then, there are layers of forest surrounding me. There's the first layer of painted forests, then outside, the 'real" forest surrounding me. I suppose there's one more between me and the painted forest - my perception of the forest. Well, anyway, you got me thinking in layers!
DeleteRobyn, My first thought was, you are so lucky to sell your work so fast! My paintings stick around for sometimes years before they sell. I would miss them though if they flew out the door.
ReplyDeleteAnd I always keep at least one from each series for myself.
These are all lovely pieces. xoxo
Annie, thank you. I am indeed lucky that my work sells. I think because my carvings take so long to do I don't have time to accumulate. Sometimes it takes months to finish a big piece.
DeletePS I adore that poem. xoxo
ReplyDelete... and not too long to write out and put on your noticeboard. xoxo
DeleteIt is not surprising that your work flies out the door and yet keeping each piece with you a bit not only energizes you but adds a little more of your spirit to the piece. Lucky new owners!
ReplyDeleteThat poem is amazing (one for copying into that quote book) and I LOVE "Inner Journey".
Thanks Carole. I really enjoyed making "Inner Journey". Lol.... I'm giving the wrong impression. Sometimes I supply galleries with a few pieces which sit waiting for the right person. That could be months.
DeleteGlad you've started your quote book!
I love "Inner Journey" too...
ReplyDelete...and I know just what you mean about meeting your muse.
I think that quote will be making it's way onto my inspiration board soon :-)
x C
Thanks Chris. The quote is from Mary Oliver's poem, The Journey (I've added a link to the full poem).
DeleteYour totems are inspirational Robyn. I think I like Inner Totem best of all but any one of them is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Weaver. I took my time with the standing totem and learned quite a lot from it.
DeleteGood for you!
ReplyDeletexo Carole
:-) Thanks Carole.
DeleteLovely totems, dont you have one that will never go? Lovely poems, I must copy them out.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing your own work, its lovely to see others but to me your work is very special.
Have you been to any local markets lately? Love to see what to me is a very exotic place that I doubt I will ever get to.
Thanks so much Penny. I'm keeping 'Stillness'and I have two others in the house that I've had for a few years. Each one marks a new way of creating for me.
DeleteWe went to a farmers market about 2 weeks ago. There were so many people milling around that I decided not to take photos but I will the next time we go.
I can see why you need to have your totems hanging around awhile after the birthing. They need to give back some of the loving care you lavished on them before they go out to face society by themselves. These are lovely, Robyn.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jo. They need to give back some of the loving care .... I like that.
Deleteam with you on this one
ReplyDeletehappy to give things away
sometimes lucky to sell them, even
but
if they leave too soon
before friendship has been confirmed
or an understanding of how they came to be
there's an inexplicable emptiness
i don't think i'm possessive in the long run
just in the shorter term
time is my friend
and things take time
Friendship and understanding .... a good way of looking at it. Things do take time. I've just added a new quote at the top of the post. "....you have to have a chance to dance with it." Don't you just love it?!
DeleteR-I can identify with the concept of being separated from your creations too soon. At times we just need them to celebrate our creativity with us. I love the last quote - it is good to recognise our own voice in many ways including telling us we are good at what we do and are. Love the totem - strong. Go well, B
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the comments. So many words of wisdom and different ways of looking at the topic. Celebration... another reason to wait awhile before sending our creations on their way.
Deleteyou and india both said it right. if they go too soon, i forget what it might have been they were to teach me. but i do like them to go, mostly.
ReplyDeleteIndeed.... I'm pleased to let them go once I've had time to learn something from them.
ReplyDelete"Stillness" is my favourite piece of all the artwork you have shared online Robyn, it's good to know you are keeping it close in your home! Over the years I have given my partner Old Man Crow the best pieces that have fallen out of my hands so I can't sell them when times get tough!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mo. I'm keeping 'Stillness' in the studio where she continues to have a calming effect on me. You've given me something to think about. Such a good idea to give your best pieces to Old man Crow. I know that if I gave a special piece to my husband he would not let me pry it away from him.
Delete100% agreement Robyn. Mary Oliver's words speak the deepest truth.
ReplyDeleteMary Oliver's poems seem to pop up at the right moment, just when I need them.
DeleteI'm with you...I have to keep some of my work around to kick-start me. Sometimes you still have something to learn from special pieces.
ReplyDeleteJo, I am often surprised when seeing one of my pieces in someone's home after a year or two has passed. I see it from a completely new perspective and always learn something from the experience.
DeleteLove William Stafford and Mary Oliver.
ReplyDeleteYes! :-)
DeleteHow absolutely wonderful your Totems are!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou've made my day!!! Thanks Cathy.
DeleteEach of your totems have a soul. I like them very much.
ReplyDeleteThat is a wonderful thing to say. Thanks so much Wim.
DeleteYou do have your own way of looking at things, Robyn, and I feel privileged that you have shared it with us. I agree with Wim that they do each have a soul, and having them around helps us to continue learning about our own unique path. Later on, I can let them go when the time is right. With a few, that time never comes.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sharmon. I feel very lucky that I can use my blog as a sounding board and receive such good feedback. I can think of several of your beautiful paintings (a very clear picture in my mind) that would be very difficult to let go.
DeleteGosh these are wonderful company to keep! It occurred to me reading this that I rarely keep my work around me. It is either sold (and often not photographed) or put in storage for various reasons, mostly because I've moved so much. Or move too fast.... I'm wondering if in creating, we are creating companions on this journey?.....as your's seem to be. As always...Thank you for more food for thought Robyn
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I'm really enjoying having them around again. Give it a try....think about keeping a few of your pieces nearby, especially in your work area. Ethiopian artist, Wosene Kosrof said "The more I go to the studio, the more I create my spiritual crowd". Something that really hit home for me.
DeleteOh Robyn, I am so glad you have your totems watching over you again. What a beautiful and touching post, so filled with the peace of discovering and knowing what you need. I love it all, your art, your words and the lovely quotes.
ReplyDeleteroxanne
I'm touched that you are touched Roxanne :-) Thank you!
DeleteIt is something I discovered a few years ago and after clearing all my totems out for an exhibition I forgot what a comfort it had been to have a few of my pieces close by.
absolutely, positively profound and moving.
ReplyDeleteyour choice of words to go with your work and message are always so perfect.
i absolutely understand what you are saying about not having your own work around you - and how you feel its absence. i am always so grateful when someone wants to buy something that i part with it. but you are so right, you can do it too quickly. and it is also ok not to part with something at all.
your totems touch me so deeply. they speak to my soul - and through them, i feel like i can hear yours.
Your words mean so much to me, thank you Mary Jane. It is always a wonderful feeling when someone buys my pieces and when someone is moved by my work I am moved in return. I think I lost something in my art process when my work space was no longer my own. I let things get out of control. My studio became the gym, library and storage room because of space issues throughout our home. Cleaning out the room and surrounding myself with the things that make me feel creative again has made a huge difference.
DeleteStrangely enough, the figures you show here , connected in my feelings with one of my own works http://fibersiv.net/threads/unbody.html
ReplyDeletemirjam
I followed the link to see your work, Mirjam. What a lovely piece!
DeleteThank you.
DeleteIt is a very personal work, and relates to growing up with a mother who lost all her family in the Holocaust.
mirjam
Personal and powerful. The name of the piece "Unbody" is packed with meaning too. Thank you so much for sharing, Mirjam.
DeleteWe love, love, love your blog! Really cool+ super-inforrmative.
ReplyDeleteWe’ve been to an amazing contemporary art show the other day by a young German painter…http://lasagnolove.blogspot.de/2013/07/disziplin-discipline.html
Greetings from Europe,
Birdy and Bambi
Thank you so much! I really enjoyed seeing your friend's art.
DeleteIf I were you I would want some of these around too. They are so alive I can feel the inspiration through the computer screen. Stillness is a fave.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa. I think it's about not breaking the thread of creativity too soon, if that makes sense. Keeping the continuity going until the time is right.
Deletethere is the magic I can feel ...
ReplyDeletethank you for sharing and preeding over the world....
amazing artist......
Thank you so much!
DeleteSuch an exciting confession about you being inspired and in a harmony with your inner-self, listening to the whisper of your muse, feeling free and happy to express your feelings!
ReplyDeleteThe totems are wonderful! The party-girl is such a sweet surprise!:))
Party Girl surprised me too Rossichka. She turned out completely different to my original idea ..... and her "hat" spins :-)
DeleteThank you, xoxo
Wonderful!!
ReplyDeleteLove totems... Love your totems and I can completely understand the feeling of loss not having something you have created looking upon you.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this post.. it reached my heart
Thank you Robyn. I need them nearby just for a while, until I've made a few more to fill the empty space.
DeleteA very beautiful post. Its must be absolutely wonderful to have your work watching over you... the notion of your comment from last post comes to mind--that art shelters you back.
ReplyDeleteI suppose if we don't take the muse by the hand, it would simply kidnap us :)
Party Girl is awesome!
Exactly, M! Art shelters one. I didn't think I was going to like Party Girl but I really do. She looks a lot better face to face and the spinning hat makes me smile.
DeleteAbsolutely Robyn, I certainly know the feeling.. it is good to be surrounded by your Loves... I never like parting with any too soon.
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that the last piece can be the springboard to the next piece.
DeleteI think your pieces are simply exquisite and I could not choose a favorite, they all capture an essence that is essential to life... so good to have your own work around you to remind you of where you have been and whisper where you are going... x
ReplyDeleteIndeed, the whispers that lead you on to the next phase. Thanks Cat.
DeleteYour totems are fantastic. I would want them to surround me also. What a treasure, they have so much life and personality in them. Love the one with the white beads especially. Reminds me of a choir robe.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Lisa, I like that thought of a choir robe.
ReplyDeleteIt is a wonderful sense of accomplishment when you can be surrounded with your art works.. as they are so personal and meaningful.
ReplyDeleteDonna, you have no idea what a difference it has made to my work process.
Delete