Hey it's Friday and time for my newsletter..
I would like to share an update regarding Jackie whose
story was featured in last week’s newsletter. Jackie took my advice and did
some domestic art this week. She decided to have some fun with the theme and
she dashed off a quick sketch of a toilet bowl brush as a warm up. J After that she
settled in to some serious drawing choosing a favourite tea pot as her subject,
one which had belonged to her grandmother. Yeah Jackie!!! You go girl!
I like tea pots and having one that was from my grandmother’s
kitchen would make it even more special.
This brings me
to the topic of this week’s newsletter...what
the dead leave behind...
Have you ever inherited something?
Perhaps after an estate was settled you found yourself having to
deal with your mother’s old sofa or your aunt’s huge chest of drawers that was
so heavy no one could move the darn thing. Sometimes inheriting someone’s stuff
isn’t what we want or need.
BUT what if you discovered something in that chest of
drawers – like a hand
written book of poems your aunt had laboured over, or perhaps a never before
read play that your uncle had dreamed of seeing performed on stage.
Wouldn’t you
pounce on that thing like it was a treasure and wouldn’t you sit and savour it?
What if you came upon a sketchbook that belonged to your
grandmother or you discovered a little oil painting that your great grandfather
did – and no one knew he had ever tried to paint!
Our passions and hobbies reveal something special and unique
about ourselves. That is why it is so wonderful to discover something that is
left behind by someone we loved or perhaps someone we never got the chance to
know.
The thing is, you probably think that not many people care or
even notice your passion for art.
Perhaps your spouse seems indifferent. Perhaps your children
don’t pay much attention when you tell them about an art course you just took
or they don’t really listen when you talk about something new that you are
working on.
But that would all change if something happened to you. And something is going to happen to all of us some day.
So here is what I want you to consider...someday someone will care
about those sketchbooks of yours, those sheets of unframed drawings or the
paintings you have stashed under the bed or in a closet. They will care and you can leave them a greater gift by the actions you
take now.
Leave behind notes.
Document your efforts. Scribble your thoughts in the margins or the borders of
a piece. At least record the year in the front of your sketchbook. Sign your work. If your signature on your art
is difficult to read, print your name on the back.
I have inherited a painting which depicts my grandfather, done
when he was a toddler. Unfortunately the work is unsigned. The portrait is very
good and was obviously done by an experienced painter. It must have been a gift
as I doubt my great grandparents would have paid someone to paint their young
son. They wouldn’t have had the extra income. This would have taken place in
the late 1800s and the story around this piece of art is no longer known. It
all remains a mystery which I feel is a loss for the generations that have
followed.
So again, sign your work. And why not leave a paper trail of
some kind?
Need more convincing?
Well, have you ever gone through a stack of old photos and
wished someone had taken the time to write down on the back who exactly is in
the picture or where this holiday trip took place and when? This sort of knowledge is the gift you can
consciously choose to give your future grand children or great nieces and
nephews.
Write down what inspired you to draw that flower or what it was
about that view that you simply had to turn into your next landscape painting. Consider keeping
a creativity diary to help those that will
read it someday to understand who you were and why you attempted to capture what
you did with your pencils or brushes.
Our art is
permanent and it lives on after us. It can and probably will be handed down
through generations. It also tells a bit of our story. I write this today to
encourage you to be part of telling a better, fuller story. Help those that
come after you. They will be so grateful.
There is no time like the present. If you put this off you will
probably forget. Why not spend a couple of hours this weekend going through your
sketchbooks and your art. Make sure you have things signed and dated. Start
writing some notes.
Another idea would be to invite family members to join you. Plan
a date when you can get together to have a fun time going through your stash of
stuff. Bake some cookies, brew some tea and then go through your art
memorabilia together – and don’t forget to make those notes. Don’t expect the
people you show your art to, to remember all of the stories you share.
And once you have documented all of your art perhaps you should
move on to those old family photos...might have to brew more tea and bake more
cookies first!
______________________________________________________
Here is a painting by one of my favourite painters:
Paul Cezanne, Still Life
with Tea Pot (copyright public domain) painted between 1902 and 1905.
A simple tea pot, some fruit and a lovely cloth make great
subject matter.
r.
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