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Art practice as spiritual practice

herbavore

herbavore

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This weekend I took a two day painting intensive from a friend. She called the class Fearless Painting and as we went around the room before class introducing ourselves and saying why we were there, it became very obvious that whether we had been painting for a short time or a lifetime it was the word fearless that drew us to sign up.

It got me thinking about how my art practice is really not too different from my meditation practice. Both bring up discomfort and uncertainty and both show us the value of that very open place. In this painting class, each time we arrived at a "safe" place in the process of painting--i.e. we were growing attached to how it looked--we were encouraged to push further by completely changing something or turning the canvas around or even painting over what we had in order to keep the exploratory energy flowing.

Creative work is a strange push and pull between process with no attachment to product or outcome and the need to produce a salable product or outcome in order to continue to work. Very young children are engaged with the process of art in a way that we adults struggle to recapture. Once they begin to receive praise or criticism for their work it switches from process to product and many children just stop at this point or they go on to draw or paint what they draw best and their relationship to the process of creativity is changed. One of my drawing teachers in college related a story about his young daughter asking him about his work. He told her that he taught grown ups how to draw. She gasped in surprise and said, "you mean they forgot?!"

Meditation, stilling the mind, sitting quietly in reflection is both peaceful and energizing to me. When I can be in that same open state, neither thinking ahead or in the past but simply seeing what happens in the moment, watching all the fearful and critical voices arise and letting them pass through, creating can feel the same.

Does anyone else have an creative practice that feels intimately tied with a spiritual practice?
 
Writing. Symbol. I guess it is tied with art. I'm sorry I am not coming up with more to say, but writing has been very spiritual to me at times. Exploration with it. It almost seems "magical".
 
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@herbavore I know exactly what you mean. Creating art, illustrating & coloring is very spiritual to me as well. Trying to express to a non-artist about this phenomenon can be difficult and alienating.
I put in my headphones, listen to ambient, rhythmic music, and allow my unrestricted creativity to move my pencil/marker. At this point, I am in a trance like state. Because my face is so close to the canvas as I meticulously make strokes with my pen/pencil/marker, this becomes "my world".. all that is important at the moment and all that matters. Then I realize that I am a creator, creating something - transfering a transient concept into a physical manifestation of my own accord... like a god. My thoughts are everywhere, yet tranquil. My mind moves my hand subconsciously. I don't focus on the complete picture - just trying to achieve the best effect within the smallest detail until the canvas is completely filled.

I learned many lessons about drawing/coloring from Professor Mushroom. One being that space is infinite, meaning that the smallest detail such as the reflection within the reflection of an iris exists, and if applicable & possible, it should be drawn. Another lesson is every line has a meaning and a life. For example, every single strand of hair drawn is important and with purpose.. which gives the picture more significance to its artist.

Once youre finished with the piece, you view it in full... Then you realize that youre actually looking at a picture of yourself. It is what was in your mind - the most original & sacred part of your being - and you replicated that on the canvas. To me, the entire process is quite spiritual and touching.
 
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I can utterly loose myself in its performance, where time passes unnoticed and everything I make myself miserable with evaporates.. creation, endeavours harmony creating infinitely unique forms and shades of beauty, is the divine magic. I find glimpses in the art I undertake.
 
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A great female spiritual teacher who works with the goddess energies once told me "It's the energy in the picture that matters".

I didn't really understand at the time. But she would make abstract paintings that weren't very technically advanced, but there was a lot of light or spiritual energy in them. While if you look at something like Dali...that is pretty sick and evil...no matter how skillful or otherwise impressive it might be.

I now see it as if you pour all of your consciousness out in a painting, though. Or make an "energetic imprint" of who you are. So someone sensitive enough could judge you by it quite precisely.
 
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