The Creative Path by Carolyn Schlam

Author:Carolyn Schlam
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781621536673
Publisher: Allworth Press
Published: 2018-04-15T16:00:00+00:00

You apprehend it as one whole. You apprehend its wholeness. That is integritas …

You apprehend it as complex, multiple, divisible, separable, made up of its parts, the result of its parts and their sum, harmonious. That is Consonantia …

You see that it is that thing which it is and no other thing. The radiance of which he speaks is the scholastic quidditas, the whatness of a thing.

Relating Joyce’s concepts to Norman’s view would go something like this: What Joyce refers to as “apprehension” Norman would call “engaged vision.” Using this faculty, you are able to see beyond the names of things to their essence. This is the “wholeness” or “integrity.” When you recognize that essence and are true to it in all the notes of your piece, you attain “harmony.” The third component is the synthesis of the first two. Through your engaged seeing, and conformance to your vision, your work achieves “radiance.” The resultant work of art has the power to express and enchant. Wholeness, Harmony, Radiance, the triad.

Norman guided us to enchant the heart by limiting our work to its singular message and then going to town to put over that message full-throttle. Instead of giving a little for a lot, he commanded us to give all for one. Whenever you have the opportunity to be witness to an artist who is totally into what he is doing and is putting himself totally into it, without hesitation, and with full commitment, your spirit soars in appreciation.

I like the humble way Robert Henri wrote about putting your whole heart into art. It is memorable. He said, “Like to do your work as much as a dog likes to gnaw a bone and go at it with equal interest and exclusion of everything else.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. I have, like most artists, given various degrees of commitment to my work on given days. We can’t always be engaged to the hilt, though that is the ultimate goal. This is normal. You can’t always be in the super-­involved alpha state. You do however need to recognize the difference.

When I think back and evaluate the commitment to my own work, I can remember several periods when my involvement was especially strong. I’ve already mentioned my Four Seasons pieces, which represented perhaps my most controlled painting experience. My intent was to make four paintings that expressed the four different mood states embodied in each season of the year. Of course, the seasons had greater meaning—I saw them as the stages of life and growth and the four pieces as a kind of transformative symphony.

I wanted each to be highly emotional and radiantly beautiful. So each day I would add paint to them and each night I would remove all that was not exactly as I wished. I was ruthless and used gallons of turpentine. When I left at the end of the day, the residue was only what I loved, no extraneous notes. This was so refreshing because greeting

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