Tuesday night I was teaching my group of older students. There is one person who is painting for the first time since he was in the sixth grade at Catholic School. (And not good memories from that experience! He is very brave to put himself in with a group of people who have been working at this for a while.) I had put out a big, healthy Indian rubber plant for them to paint. The plant has big leaves so it is easy to see their differences but there are many of them it is can also be confusing. My assignment: to paint with no drawing involved, using color to create the forms. To think about the space as a major component in creating the forms of the plant.
When we were looking at work towards the end of class (our usual ritual), he commented that this (painting) is hard. He sounded surprised. I asked the others if they found it hard. Everyone said yes, it is. Then why do IT? For those times when it all comes together, when that unique feeling, that great joy of creating something, the magic that comes at unexpected moments from unexpected places and lives on without you being there. All that discipline of �working at it� over and over. And then it is all just magic!
Posted by leya at April 9, 2005 09:54 AM