This book, Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World) arrived this week. It’s the catalogue for Maira Kalman’s traveling exhibition now at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania and coming next spring to New York. I love her work—the acute observation, the sublime affect, the notice that the world is full of particular pleasures in the midst of seeming chaos or, yes, craziness. And also that the pleasures are not necessarily what we might assume them to be. Some are things we have certainly not observed—the ballet dancer in mid-air in a hotel room, for instance. So many pleasures and poignant observations— the artist embroiders her beloved mother’s portrait, so much more tender and labored than dashing off a drawing.
Her work is about observation of the world around her. She goes out into the world with her camera and finds the telling detail, the bold and brave soul, the outré soufflé where, what should have risen, fell. I love, love, love it. She works small which makes the book a real treasure. It’s so much easier to reproduce small works in book form and to really experience them. Though, I must confess, I can’t wait to see the exhibit when it comes to NYC. One of the things I really admire is the way she blurs the boundaries between “fine” art and “illustration.” This work is full of pleasure, like Matisse’s, and she, like Matisse, convinces us that pleasure is not a bad or shallow word. It’s human, stunning, almost heart-breaking and often funny. We feel things. Wow. And we care about people. I love that. Isn’t that the purpose of art—to awaken appreciation and compassion? So here’s to blurred boundaries and the humanization of art. We can understand Maira’s art and carry it with us in our consciousness and hearts. Thank you.
I have a new post up this week on the Huffington Post—Financial Advice from an Artist. It’s great to have this place to write now. Sometimes, as artists, we can feel like we’re laboring away in the trenches and who knows if it matters. But what we learn in the trenches can’t be learned in school or by keeping our shoes clean. May I call it grit? So, for what it’s worth, I’m thrilled to be writing about worldly financial matters—from the perspective of the trench, of course! The path of art really is a trench—you go down deep, you get dirty, you wonder if you’ll survive, you become really happy—if you take the middle path. In the post, I’m singing the virtues of what the Buddha called the middle path. When we’re artists of life, we have no need for those gargantuan bonuses that have now undone Wall Street, our country and the world. We know the blessing of living simply. I’m already at work on my next post. Taking it all a step further. Stay tuned.
Wrote an essay too this week for Lightworker magazine on the subject of inspiration. I really love this essay because I got to write about something from my childhood that really moved me in a positive way over time. I’ll let you know as soon as it’s published and I can link to it.
On Thursday, I’ll be on the radio here! It’s my first time, so hope I do alright. It’s at 9 pm —www.soulsjourneyradio.com.
Everything is shaping up for the drawing/creativity retreat in London September 25th-26th. I’ll write more soon on that. You can read more about it here. Please, please come, if you can! It’s reasonably priced and is going to be an amazing journey into the creative core of ourselves.
That’s it for this week! Hope all is well in your world. Don’t forget to say hi!
