The Lardner Report

Unleash your creative superpowers!

The Art Of Losing It — It’s A Good Thing

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Confession time. The last thing I do before I go to sleep at night, is think about what kind of treat I’m going to have in the morning. And after breakfast, it’s when can I have my next sweet morsel. I am in fact, much like Winnie the Pooh. Here’s a quote from the star of A.A. Milne beloved’s books.

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”

 “What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”

  “I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today” said Piglet. 

   Pooh nodded thoughtfully, ”It’s the same thing” he said.

But every once in awhile, I am presented with a reminder that the thrill I get feeding my face, is nothing to the one I get when I feed my soul.

 Last weekend we did a video shoot for my new website. We needed some closeup shots of someone painting. That would be me. We had specific needs for the video: which brushes to stack, what colors to put on the palette.  But a funny thing happened once we were rolling. I forgot all about the shoot, and lost myself. When the shoot was over, I found myself still messing around with paint on canvas. It was a better high than the best chocolate I’ve ever inhaled. (Sorry about that, Teuscher.)

So, for the 1,765th time, I am reminded that I shouldn’t wait for a “reason” to do what I love. It’s not expensive, it’s not unhealthy, it doesn’t make you fat. My goal tonight, is to go to bed thinking about what art I can create in the morning — before breakfast.

How Our Cat Unearthed My Creative Past

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(Pic #1) “Piglet” shuffles my trashed collection of art, and brings it back to life.

I had a wonderful epiphanic moment this week. A moment that was born of my insanely competitive nature, and brought into focus by my 14-year-old, deaf, asthmatic cat.

(Pic #2) Cumulus Pac Man  / Acrylic on board.

My husband recently went on one of his organization binges. The result was that his home office was spotless, everything in its place. Usually, I just get jealous that he has a pristine work environment, but this time, I got competitive. “If he can clean up his office, I can organize my art studio even better.”

So I did. I went through everything, organized and cleaned. When I finished, I had this huge pile of old paintings, collages, and drawings — some were half finished, and some had fallen victim to the inner critic, and were long ago consigned to the junk heap.  I dumped them on the living room floor, prepared to banish them once and for all.

(Pic #3) Test / Ink and dress patterns on board.

That’s when the cat came in. (Pic #1) As she often does, Piglet wanted to lie in the most inconvenient place, and that was right on top of the pile. At some xenical point, she began to play with the paintings — pawing and shuffling, shuffling and pawing. When I came back out, she had uncovered some of the artwork which had been hidden deep in the stack. (Pics #2, 3, 4, 5, 6) So I was forced to look at it again.

Suddenly I saw it all differently; maybe none was a masterpiece, but then again, some were actually okay. I had convinced myself that the time I had spent on those paintings was wasted, because I was not satisfied with the results. With the passage of time, I actually now really like some of those cast-aside pieces.

(Pic #4) Beverly Zen / Collage on board.

And more important, here is the epiphany: the time I thought I had wasted on those paintings, was actually time wonderfully well spent. Looking at that discarded art with a fresh set of eyes has inspired me. Right now I am loaded with ideas for what I want to paint next. And I have a clean studio in which to do it.

(Pic #5) Woosh / Acrylic on paper.

(Pic #6) Utility box, St. Petersburg, Russia / Photo, collage.

Losing Focus: It’s A Good Thing

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(Pic #1) Sharp focus – dull image.

“Focus!”  We hear it from teachers, coaches, bosses even spouses.

“Focus!” Put all extraneous thoughts out of your head and concentrate on the task at hand.  Focus is that single-mindedness that allows us to achieve. Without it, the greatest of intentions often disappear into the mist of fanciful daydreams. Focus can be your best friend when you are vigorously attacking your to-do list. But it can be your worst enemy when it comes to creating art.

Don’t get me wrong, attention to detail is important in art, and I suppose that requires some focus, but the engine that drives the artist is creativity, and that often requires the exact opposite of focus. It requires letting your mind run free, tuning into the seemingly random, unconnected sights and sounds that inspire great art.

Often the focused, crystal clear view of the world can mask an incredible universe of beauty that emerges when we blur our vision a bit.

(Pic #2) Sparing the details: the beauty of losing focus

In Kindergarten, I remember asking my best friend Tana Klugherz if she could “look blurry-eyed” at something – and do it on command, as I could. It was such a thrill to shift the world totally out of focus – into a palette of soft colors.  It turned everything into a lovely abstraction. Now I get to explore and change my view with technology and a good camera. Maybe not as fun – but still pretty magical.

On top of the page (Pic #1):  a shot of a bougainvillea branch in our backyard.  Nice photograph, well composed, perfectly in focus. No interpretation necessary, no imagination needed. Picture #2 (above) is almost exactly the same shot, but purposely out of focus.  Suddenly the colors and shapes become ethereal, suddenly they invite — in fact demand  — the viewer’s imagination.

Lose your focus — find your inner artist.