Expression: Devotion

Philadelphia's Magic Gardens

Musing…

 Speaking of magic…picking up where I left off in “Starting Point” post;

“Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Charise’s Turn:

On a recent trip to visit a friend in Philadelphia I toured “Magic Gardens”, built by artist Isaiah Zagar. How he saw what he could do with a vacant lot in the South Street neighborhood of Philly is genius. Like a dancer in an empty room, or a writer with an empty page, he filled what was “vacant” with his imagination. He made rooms of mosaics; tiling walls, floors, stairways, and ceilings. He spent fourteen years making this environment, and nearly lost it eight years into the project when the owner of the lot opted to sell. At that point, the community stepped in to support Zagar’s vision so he could continue. The gardens are open every day.

You might say that the magic of these gardens is the experience of a mosaic wonderland unlike anything anywhere else. But what I feel I'm seeing there is an outpouring of devotion. Devotion to sustaining a creative vision at all costs.

As Stendhal says, “The man of genius is he and he alone who finds such joy in his art that he will work at it come hell or high water.”

Get Fired Up:

Bring out the ideas, sketches, notes, that you have set aside for some reason or another and imagine what it would be like to see one through to completion. Maybe you abandoned an idea you had for a story or article, or forgot about an image you had in mind to craft or build or paint or photograph or choreograph. Imagine going further with your inspiration, and keep going.. keep going.

www.coachingmoves.com

Expression: Give Yourself Permission

Musing…

“My paint is an expression of myself, an extension of what I am feeling at the time. We are never separate from the process. In all of my work, there is a part of myself. No matter if it’s a landscape, a portrait, or an abstract, I am lurking in the background.” ~ Lori Agostino

By definition the word expression means the process of making known one's thoughts or feelings.

Colleen’s Turn:

As an intuitive artist I feel that all of my work is a form of self-expression. I paint, create, collage, and dance to express who I am. All art forms help me to see and experience my true self more clearly. Art making, is in fact, a most beautiful way to get to know the deeper aspects of one’s self.

But to express one’s thoughts and feelings in a way that makes them tangible can also bring up vulnerability. Fear (in some form or another) is one of the main reasons most of us back away from our creative processes. Just stepping in front of a blank canvas can make many of us tremble and bring tears to our eyes.

Letting go of what we think we’re supposed to create is critical to opening the channels of self-expression. More often than not it is our inner perfectionist that kills our creative dreams before we can even get a brush stroke down on paper or a note out of our mouths.

That’s the beauty of looking at art-making as simply a form of self-expression. By pouring your thoughts and feelings onto a canvas or into music, color, poetry, or some other medium, you’ve done what you’ve needed to do. That is where the passion is. There really is no right or wrong way to do it, just your way!

Get Fired Up:

Give yourself permission today and every other day to paint or color outside of the lines, to fully express who you are, and to make mistakes. Make mistakes on purpose even! Explore something you’ve never tried before, just for the sake of exploring.

Tune into what you are feeling. Does it want to be expressed through sound, movement, paint, collage, or some other medium? Trust yourself. Your heart and soul really do know the way. Give yourself permission to express yourself in all of your many beautiful colors. You don’t need anyone else’s permission or approval. Express what is in you.

www.quest4wholeness.com  Colleen Russell, guest blogger