George Grosz

"My drawings and paintings were done as an act of protest; I was trying by means of my work to convince the world that it is ugly, sick and hypocritical."

— George Grosz

German Artist

1893 - 1959

The Wanderer
(1943)

Do you believe that art should be beautiful?  Should we as artists and writers only show what is best about the world and the humans who occupy great chunks of it?  Some people would say: "Yes, that the ugly is not art. That art and writing are to show mankind at its best."  Why do you think so many people want a happy ending to a novel or a movie?  The hero may go down into the gutter to find the criminal, but he must rise above the world he inhabits and transcend the ugliness around him.  He must be better than those he encounters.

Grosz fought on the side of Germany during World War I.  He volunteered in 1914 and was discharged in 1915 as unfit for duty.  He was conscripted in 1917 because Germany was desperate for soldiers.  He was court-martialed for insubordination and sentenced to death.  One of his patrons saved him from execution and he was diagnosed as suffering from shell-shock and discharged.  Anti-Nazi, Grosz left Germany for America before Hitler came to power and became a naturalized citizen in 1938.  Here is a painting Grosz painted in 1943, entitled, Hitler in Hell.

Hitler in Hell
(1943)

Eleanor Roosevelt

"Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art."

— Eleanor Roosevelt

American Speaker, Author, Political Activist

1884 - 1962

In one sense, we all are artists.  We create the lives we lead.  While we may not have any control over what happens to us, we do have control how we respond to what happens to us.  And how we respond creates the person we become.  When you reach the end of the road one day and you look back at your life, what is the legacy you have left behind.  What kind of person have you become?  Will you be a grouchy, grumpy old drunk or a kind, caring matriarch?  Will you dance with laughter or worry and fret over the fact that your husband never puts down the toilet seat?  We all make choices in life and those choices create the lives we lead.  

Our lives are a work of art.  What color are your memories?  How many wrinkles line your dreams?  Do your hopes have arthritis?  What are you doing today that will create your legacy tomorrow?  What decisions are you making today that will form the core of your character tomorrow?  Life is about growth and change.  What lessons are you learning that will change your life?  Your life is a canvas.  Pick up your paint brush and start painting.  Live the life today that you will be proud of when you are 103.

Henry Moore

"Between beauty of expression and power of expression there is a difference of function.  The first aims at pleasing the senses, the second has a spiritual vitality which for me is more moving and goes deeper than the senses."

— Henry Moore

British Sculptor

1898 - 1986

Which is more important the beauty of what is said or the power of what is said?  I agree with Moore that the impact of what is communicated is more important than the beauty with which it is communicated.  It doesn't matter whether you are talking art, literature or music.  Too much emphasis in our culture has been put on beauty.  Form often wins out over substance.  For me, the substance of the art matters more.  The spiritual aspect of the communication is more important than the surface beauty.  Some works of art have both beauty and substance.  But if I must choose, I choose substance over beauty.  When you look at a painting, listen to music or read a novel, what is more important to you:  what is said or how it is said?

Ernest Hemingway

"The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity to sacrifice.  Ironically, their virtues make them vulnerable; they are often wounded, sometimes destroyed."

— Ernest Hemingway

American Novelist

1899 - 1961

As writers, artists and creative leaders we often are vulnerable to the hostile, negative behavior of people who do not understand us and what we represent.  These negative people can be our friends and family initially and the wider world eventually as our creative ideas and works try to find their place in that world.  We need to remain strong and courageous in the face of negative attacks.

As creative leaders we often sacrifice much to achieve our dreams.  We become so focused on and obsessed with our work that we ignore family and friends.  We miss out on the joys of life.  We may forget to take care of our health.  We drink and/or take drugs to kill the demons chasing us.  We suffer ridicule at the hands of those who don't understand us and what we do.

People may hate us when we tell the truth.  Often people are not ready for the truth we have to speak.  They may criticize and condemn us.  They may laugh at us.  We must find the discipline and the courage to speak the truth anyway — to open up and share our thoughts and feelings, to share the beauty we see.

Hemingway At Work

Havelock Ellis

"Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is no mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself."

 

— Havelock Ellis

British Physician, Writer, Psychologist

1859 - 1939

Dancing has never been my strong suit.  I grew up in a church where dancing was considered a sin.  I sinned in the seventh grade when I danced at a sock hop, but I have never felt comfortable dancing.  I have no rhythm. 



 I have learned that dancing is an art that touches the soul.  While I may never have rhythm, I can appreciate it in others.  I took a movement class 5 years ago that used movement to explore your purpose in life.  We created our life story through movement.  Some day I would like to participate in a workshop that combines dance, painting, storytelling and writing.  Who knows maybe I will create it myself. 

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

Self-Portrait

(1804)

"A painter can turn pennies into gold, for all subjects are capable of being transformed into poems."

— Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

French Artist

1780 - 1867

The Valpincon Bather

(1806)

Some people believe that art is only about painting beauty.  Other people believe that writers should not write about certain subjects.   And still others seek to censor artists and writers.  Think about books that have been banned in school districts or art that is considered pornographic.  The American Library Association publishes online a list of 100 novels that have been banned from time to time.

What subjects do you avoid painting or writing about?  In what ways do you censor your own creative tendencies.  Do you paint to please others?  Do you avoid writing about certain events because it could hurt others?  How do you choose the subjects that you paint or write about?  Or does the subject choose you?  Do write about what interests you or do you write what you think the world wants to read?  Consider how many writers now write about vampires since the success of Ann Rice.  Or how many writers follow in the footsteps of the Harry Potter books.

Do you think Ingres is correct?  Can a painter can turn pennies into gold?  Can a writer make any subject poetic?  

Louise de Broglie

(1845)

Jack London

"You can't wait for inspiration.  You have to go after it with a club."

— Jack London

American Novelist

1876 - 1916

If you wait for inspiration, you may never find it.  Inspiration sneaks upon you when you are working and catches you by surprise.  Inspiration invades your dreams and you wake up with the answer to your problems.  When you pretend that inspiration is not important, it dominates your soul.  

Consider inspiration as a friend who comes and goes at all hours of the day and night bearing gifts that will delight you.  When you open the gifts offered by inspiration, be not frightened by what you find.  Cherish the madness that inspiration bestows upon you.  Taste the sadness when it leaves you naked and exposed to the elements.  

Kneel before the altar of inspiration and pray that you will survive the dangerous journey.  Catch fireflies and offer then as a sacrifice to the gods of inspiration.  Dance with the goddess of inspiration and steal her beauty.  Offer a prayer of thanksgiving for an opportunity to taste of the joy of the gods.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Self-Portrait, 1847

"Picture and poem bear the same relationship to each other as beauty does in man and woman:  the point of meeting where the two are identical is the supreme perfection."

— Dante Gabriel Rossetti

English Poet and Artist

1828 - 1882

Lady Lilith, 1868

Having spent over 35 years writing poetry and now painting for the last five years, I am fascinated by the point where poetry and painting meet.  Dante Gabriel Rossetti was trained both as a poet and a painter and spent a lifetime writing poetry and painting pictures.  He once said: "If any man has any poetry in him he should paint it, for it has all been said and written."  And yet Rossetti saw himself more as a poet than a painter.  He also said: "Painting being — what poetry is not — a livelihood — I have put my poetry chiefly in that form."  And I would have to agree with his last point.  While it may be difficult to make a living being a painter, it is even more difficult making a living from writing poetry.  

Is there a poem inside you asking to be let out?  Is there a painting inside you begging to be set free?  I strongly encourage painters to write poetry and short stories.  I think every poet and novelist should pick up a brush and spend a few hours painting.  Remember it is not about being financially successful.  It is about releasing your inner creativity.

Here is a poem by Rossetti:

The Honeysuckle

I plucked a honeysuckle where

The hedge on high is quick and thorn,

And climbing for the prize, was torn,

And fouled my feet in quag-water;

And by the thorns and by the wind

The blossom that I took was thinn'd,

And yet I found it sweet and fair.

Thence to a richer growth I came,

Where, nursed in mellow intercourse,

The honeysuckles sprang by scores,

Not harried like my single stem,

All virgin lamps of scent and dew.

So from my hand that first I threw,

Yet plucked not any more of them.

Here is a video on YouTube showing some of the paintings of Rossetti:

Stephen Nachmanovitch

"Creative work is play.  It is free speculation using the materials of one's chosen form."

— Stephen Nachmanovitch

American Musician/Writer

1950 -

For many people as they grow-up, they stop playing and having fun and in the process they stop being creative.  Being playful opens up our channels of creativity and we explore new ways of seeing the world.  Play involves having a sense of humor and being able to laugh at ourselves and the world around us.  Can you laugh at yourself and your mistakes?  Play also involves celebration of life and the joys of discovery.  Do you celebrate the beauty of being alive?  Play releases the creativity that is stored inside each of us and we try new things.  Have you tried something new recently or are you stuck in a rut?

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"When I first open my eyes upon the morning meadows and look out upon the beautiful world, I thank God I am alive."

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

American Poet/Essayist

1803 - 1882

I am fortunate that I have a yard that is full of birds, squirrels and rabbits.  And occasionally, a deer or a family of ducks have found the time to visit.  And our yard has maple trees, a large old pin oak and a few blue spruce.  Even in a metropolitan city I can find nature close at hand.  As creative leaders, we can and should find inspiration in nature.  I am amazed at how strong and resilient Mother Nature is.  If you have ever observed grass poking up through a crack in the concrete, you understand what I mean.  Long after the last man or woman has passed onto a better place, Mother Nature will still be there.

For me, the ironic thing is that human beings talk about nature as if we are not a part of it, only observers.  In fact, we are very much a part of nature.  And contrary to the opinion of many, Mother Nature is stronger and tougher than man.  I remember reading a study of overcrowded deer on an island.  The overcrowding generated unusual behavior among the deer such as increased fighting, rape and homosexuality.  Nature sought to reduce the overpopulation through disease.  In the end nature will win so we need to enjoy it while we can.

Photograph by Johari King

As artists and writers, we need to find joy, solace and inspiration in nature.  We need to enjoy the sunsets and the sunrises.  We need to appreciate the changing of seasons from fall to winter to spring.  The squirrels and rabbits in my backyard bring me pleasure and laughter with their play.  I have seen rabbits play leap frog, jumping over each other.  I have watched squirrels chasing each other up a tree.  And you will find both the rabbits and the squirrels in my haiku and my poetry.




Here are a few of my haiku.  More of my haiku can be found at my website.




downtown Chicago

    a squirrel buries apples —

        warm autumn sun







Illinois farmland —

    pheasant scoots across the snow

        the pickup heads home







early morning —

    two robins play leap frog

        in the shadows







on the corn tassels

    a flock of purple martins. . . 

        summer sunset

Morihei Ueshiba

"Contemplate the workings of this world . . . . Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely. . . . Everything — even mountains, rivers, plants and trees — should be your teacher."

— Morihei Ueshiba

Founder of Aikido

Japanese Author

1883 - 1969

Georgia O'Keefe

"Come quickly.  You mustn't miss the dawn.  It will never be just like this again."

— Georgia O'Keefe

American Artist

1887 - 1986

How much do we miss because we don't take the time to see it?  How many sunrises or sunsets have you spent time just enjoying the beauty?  Or are you like me — running from place to place, not spending time enjoying the beauty of nature?  I have lived through over 22,000 sunrises and 22,000 sunsets.  I would be lucky if I saw 200 of them.  I could probably count on one hand those I remember.  How much we miss because we are busy elsewhere!!

Helen Keller

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched.  They must be felt with the heart."

— Helen Keller

American Author/Speaker

1880 - 1968

What is it that cannot be seen or touched?  Love?  Friendship?  Beauty rests in the heart.  We spend a lot of money and time seeking physical beauty, painting physical beauty and writing poems about physical beauty, but true beauty can only be found in the hearts of those we love.