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How I survived a lightning strike
12/6/2022
HOW MANY STORIES start off something like this, “I was gazing out of the window, and what I saw changed my life…”
In that moment for me, the fog of sleep slowly dissipating from my eyes, whilst sipping my hot cup of Assam tea, the frame of the window became a frame for the shape I saw outside of it, a shape that hit me like a lightning strike… indeed, it was the shape of a horizontal lightning strike!
In that moment for me, the fog of sleep slowly dissipating from my eyes, whilst sipping my hot cup of Assam tea, the frame of the window became a frame for the shape I saw outside of it, a shape that hit me like a lightning strike… indeed, it was the shape of a horizontal lightning strike!
It was the contour of the roofline of a row of strange low income housing units. It was the first time I’d personally made the connection between life and abstract art.
“Abstract art is art that does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of a visual reality, but instead use shapes, colors, forms and gestural marks to achieve its effect.” - Kandinsky
From all of the overwhelming detail of the scene outside the window, it was the framing of it by the window that prompted me to see the scene as a distillation of information into line and shape, a transmutation of sorts, an abstraction.
“Abstract art is art that does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of a visual reality, but instead use shapes, colors, forms and gestural marks to achieve its effect.” - Kandinsky
From all of the overwhelming detail of the scene outside the window, it was the framing of it by the window that prompted me to see the scene as a distillation of information into line and shape, a transmutation of sorts, an abstraction.
“To know what you are going to draw, you have to begin drawing.”
- Picasso
When I discovered this concept for myself a few years ago, it changed my life! Feeling stuck, disconnected, and overwhelmed, I tried something new... I surrendered, and risked walking towards the unknown. Mainly, I let go of my preconceptions about where “ideas” come from, what art and art making meant to me, and with beginners mind, I began to draw.
I gave myself permission to keep it simple. I gave myself limitations, I’d take an interesting shape or form, and play around with it within the confines of a small square using limited color palettes, and grids. I’d focus on the forms, shapes, light and shadow, and composition, starting with a line or an object, and after hundreds of drawings, one flowing into another, ideas started to emerge! Interesting images that were intriguing enough that they deserved to be painted. The paintings were interesting to me, and somehow revealed something of myself, or my frame of mind at the time. I had developed a process, a practice, of artistic discovery, and self discovery. I found my work interesting, and I actually liked it!
- Picasso
When I discovered this concept for myself a few years ago, it changed my life! Feeling stuck, disconnected, and overwhelmed, I tried something new... I surrendered, and risked walking towards the unknown. Mainly, I let go of my preconceptions about where “ideas” come from, what art and art making meant to me, and with beginners mind, I began to draw.
I gave myself permission to keep it simple. I gave myself limitations, I’d take an interesting shape or form, and play around with it within the confines of a small square using limited color palettes, and grids. I’d focus on the forms, shapes, light and shadow, and composition, starting with a line or an object, and after hundreds of drawings, one flowing into another, ideas started to emerge! Interesting images that were intriguing enough that they deserved to be painted. The paintings were interesting to me, and somehow revealed something of myself, or my frame of mind at the time. I had developed a process, a practice, of artistic discovery, and self discovery. I found my work interesting, and I actually liked it!
I’ve been able to overcome the fear of not being able to generate ideas, the fear of not having anything to say, the fear of not being able to measure up to my art hero’s, and the crippling power of perfectionism which hung over me like a cloud, and had simply staunched any flow of potential creative energy. It had kept me from making art for so many years.
I learned that I didn’t have to measure up to anybody else, that I do it for me, for the sake of curiosity, for adventure, and for fun. I learned that I did have something to say, even if I don’t know quite what it is until I’ve drawn it.
I learned that I did have ideas, generated by feeling, instinct, and process, and that I don’t care about perfectionism. There is no perfect in nature, and thus it is perfect! Perfectly imperfect.
In the years since that initial lightning strike, I have learned a great deal. I learned that for me, ideas come from drawing, drawing, and drawing. The lightning strike became the basis for my art, and continues to inform my work today.
I learned that I didn’t have to measure up to anybody else, that I do it for me, for the sake of curiosity, for adventure, and for fun. I learned that I did have something to say, even if I don’t know quite what it is until I’ve drawn it.
I learned that I did have ideas, generated by feeling, instinct, and process, and that I don’t care about perfectionism. There is no perfect in nature, and thus it is perfect! Perfectly imperfect.
In the years since that initial lightning strike, I have learned a great deal. I learned that for me, ideas come from drawing, drawing, and drawing. The lightning strike became the basis for my art, and continues to inform my work today.