Rafael Alberti

"In the very beginning I looked to painting as the medium for addressing concerns in shapes and colors.  Then it was poetry where these concerns found expression through the medium of word and metaphor."

Rafael Alberti

Spanish Painter, Poet

1902 - 1999

I am fascinated by creative leaders who use more than one medium to express themselves.  Rafael Alberti was one of those who was at home both in the visual arts and the written word.  The need to create and communicate one's feelings transcends the medium.  Some writers work in short stories, novels, poetry and plays.  Some artists paint, draw and sculpt.  And then there are the writers who also paint and the painters who also write.  Or the musicians who paint and the actors who play music.  We all have the urge to express ourselves.  The medium of paint, words or music is just the vehicle to carry the communication.

What vehicles do you like to use to express your artistic desires?  Poetry?  Music?  Painting?  Acting?  Plays?  Dancing?  Sculpting?  Novels?  Short Stories?  Have you stepped outside your comfort zone and tried something new?  

Henry Miller

Self-Portrait
(1943)

"Paint what you like and die happy."

— Henry Miller

American Novelist, Painter

1891 - 1980

The message here is simple and direct:  do what you like.  Too often we don't do what we like.  Nor do we learn to like what we do.  And then people become unhappy with their lives and they spend their time complaining.  Don't let others dictate what is important for you.  

And I am not telling you to run away from your spouse and children and join an artist colony where you spend every day either painting or writing.  We all have responsibilities and we should not shirk them.  If you get married, you have made a commitment and you need to live up to it.  If you bring children into this world, you have a responsibility to raise, educate and care for them.  Doing what you love does not mean avoiding your responsibilities.  Doing what you love means finding 30 minutes or 60 minutes where you do what you want to do — where you do what you love to do.  Then you can die happy.

Duke Ellington

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues."

Duke Ellington

American Composer, Musician

1899 - 1974

Many of us waste energy complaining.  We need to learn to transform our frustrations, fears and failures into positive energy that inspires us to create great works of art.  Are you feeling down today, maybe even depressed?  Great.  Use that negative energy to create.  Write through the frustration.  Paint a picture with large dramatic brush strokes.  Are you angry and upset?  Transform that negative energy.  Splatter the canvas with paint.  Quickly write a poem in very large letters and don't rewrite it.  Read the poem aloud to the universe.  Is your heart broken and you can't stop crying?  Give yourself a hug and sing in a loud voice a country song about your broken heart and the mean person who broke it.  Be sure to sing off key.  Paint a picture of a heart in agony.  Dance wildly about the living room and do a belly laugh.

Emotions are a part of being human.  What most people don't realize is that they can control and change their emotions.  Don't wallow in self-pity, take charge of your life and choose to change your emotions.  Do something that gets you out of that rut.  Climb a mountain in your backyard.  Take photos of squirrels chasing each other in fun.  Go for a swim.  Listen to Duke Ellington.

Hermann Hesse

"Without words, without writing and without books, there would be no history, there could be no concept of humanity.







— Hermann Hesse

German Poet, Novelist and Painter

1877 - 1962

We often take for granted the words we speak and the words we write.  We are so busy with our lives that we fail to give thanks for one of the most important things that human beings share — language.  Without language, communication would be much more difficult and we probably would not have achieved many of inventions that have been created.  And at the heart of language are the words we speak and write.  Writers understand the power of words and the importance of choosing the perfect word for the moment.  The  wrong word used at the wrong time has destroyed lives.  

Ticino Landscape
(1920)

And words have such power that we have made some words off limits.  Polite society does not say certain words.  And many today strive to be political correct and when our TV and radio personalities cross the line, they are fired or forced to resign for saying certain words.  The old saying that sticks and stones will hurt my bones but words will never harm is simply not true.  We all have stored in our memory banks words that were said by some authority figure like a parent or teacher that have emotionally harmed us for years and decades.

It is time to celebrate the power of words and language.  It is time we give writers their due.  They spend a lifetime working with words — seeking to understand and communicate that which is best in each of us.  It is time to believe in the great gift we have been given — language.

Heinrich Heine

Painting of Heine
by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim

Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings."

— Heinrich Heine

German Poet

1797 - 1856

When a nation or society has no respect for its artists, writers and musicians, it is a nation in danger of losing its humanity.  I find it very sad that in this country where liberty is held in high esteem that there are people who choose to burn books.  When my daughter was in high school, she knew teenagers who participated in the burning of books with members of their church.  How ignorant these people must be.  Books are our connection to the world beyond our immediate home.  But it is not just in this country and it is not just books.  In 2001 when the Taliban were in power in Afghanistan, they destroyed two 1700 year-old Buddha statues carved in a cliff in the Hindu Kush mountains.  Other cultures have destroyed paintings.  And governments and societies have tried to control the type of art works that are created.  Both Hitler and Stalin restricted the type of art that could be created.

Artists, writers and musicians are one of the greatest treasures that a society has and yet people continue to treat them with contempt — telling them to get a real job.  In fact, the way we know about the past is through the artists, writers and the musicians.  We would know very little about ancient Rome or Greece if it were not for books and paintings.  Future societies will know us primarily through the writers and painters of today.  Our legacy is past down through our art.  

Here is a poem by Heinrich Heine.

WHY THE ROSES ARE SO PALE

by: Heinrich Heine (1799-1856)

 DEAREST, canst thou tell me why




The rose should be so pale?




And why the azure violet




Should wither in the vale?




 




And why the lark should in the cloud




So sorrowfully sing?




And why from loveliest balsam-buds




A scent of death should spring?




 




And why the sun upon the mead




So chillingly should frown?




And why the earth should, like a grave,




Be moldering and brown?




 




And why it is that I myself




So languishing should be?




And why it is, my heart of hearts,




That thou forsakest me?

This English translation of "Why the Roses are so Pale" was composed by Richard Garnett (1835-1906).

Edvard Munch

The Scream
(1893)

"I was walking along a path with two friends, the sun was setting.  I felt a breath of melancholy.  Suddenly the sky turned blood-red.  I stopped and leant against the railing, deathly tired, looking out across flaming clouds that hung like blood and a sword over the deep blue fjord and town.  My friends walked on.  I stood there trembling with anxiety and felt a great, infinite scream pass through nature."

— Edvard Munch

Norwegian Painter

1863 - 1944

Edvard Munch
1921

Edvard Munch was inspired to paint The Scream by what he felt.  He later said: "For several years I was almost mad. . . You know my picture, The Scream? I was stretched to the limit — nature was screaming in my blood. . . After that I gave up hope ever of being able to love again."

What drives you to paint?  What inspires you to write?  Is it light or darkness?  Fear or compassion?  Beauty or pain?  What message do you want to communicate?  What is your vision of the world?  Does your creative work come from deep within your soul?  Do you paint what you feel?  Do you write what you experience?

Pierre Auguste Renoir

Self-Portrait

(1875)

"It is not enough for a painter to be a clever craftsman; he must love to 'caress' his canvas, too.

— Pierre Auguste Renoir

French Artist

1841 - 1919

For some people the process of creation is painful and difficult.  They struggle to put words on paper or paint on the canvas.  They let their fear of failure or their drive for perfection prevent them from working.  Others love to work.  They are happiest standing before a canvas or sitting before a computer.  Work comes easy for them.  Which person are you?  Do you love your work?  Do you enjoy painting?  Can you get lost in process of painting?  Do you enjoy writing?  Can you write for hours and suddenly stop and realize how fast the time has flown by?  Or do you procrastinate and look for ways to avoid working?  Do you tell yourself that you have to clean the house, wash the dishes or pay the bills instead of working on your art or writing?

Umbrellas

(1981)

Read my poem, Indecision, inspired by Renoir's painting, Umbrellas.

Henry Ward Beecher

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures."

— Henry Ward Beecher

American Clergy, Author, Speaker

1813 - 1887

If you have ever read the biographies of famous artists and writers, you may have discovered that some of these creative geniuses were not the best of human beings.  They may have been mean and cruel to those they loved.  They may have had affairs of the heart.  They may have been paranoid and psychotic.  They may have been insecure and boorish.  Their personal lives never seem to match the beauty found in their art.

So where does the great creative work come from?  Every person has some good and bad within himself.    The best creative work comes from being in touch with the good within one's souls.  By doing so, creative leaders create great work that connects with what is best in all humans.  But the cost of such greatness is often the chaos of their personal lives.

Jonathan Hull

"Without art; without paintings, books, sculpture and music, the human soul would be quite impenetrable, don't you think?"

— Jonathan Hull

American Novelist, Journalist

Can you imagine a world without art?  No books to read.  No writers of poetry.  No paintings.  No sculpture.  No music.  No theater.  No movies.  No stories.  Could you live in such a world?  And yet there are people who live lives without creating and appreciating the world of art.  They have no interest in books, paintings or music.  I for one could not live in such a world. 

I have a strong need to create a work of art.  To write a poem.  To sing a song.  To paint a picture.  To tell a story.  Without creative work, my soul would die a slow death.  Celebrate the fact that you have the ability to appreciate great works of art.  Believe that you have the skill to create great works of art.

Joan Miro

"I try to apply colors like words that shape poems, like notes that shape music."

— Joan Miro

Spanish Artist

1893 - 1993

Hand Catching a Bird
(1968)

Our lives are touched with color whether we are artists or not.  We are attracted to color and repulsed by color.  We wake to color in the morning and some of us dream in color.  We love the color of flowers in spring and summer.  We love the color of leaves in autumn.  Our lives our filled with color.  We often buy our clothes based on color.  We paint the walls of our houses with color.  We choose the color of the car we buy.  Color is an important part of our lives.  Chefs use color to make the meal appealing.  Advertisers use color to convince us to buy things.

In a study of the colors blue and red, scientists at the University of British Columbia discovered that red makes us more cautious and attentive to details while blue makes us more creative and receptive to new ideas.  Experiments showed that with a red background people performed as much as 31 percent better on tasks like proofreading.  When blue was used, people were more open to new ideas and creative solutions.

What are your favorite colors?  Do some colors make you happy?  What colors make you sad? What colors excite you?  How does color shape your art?  What colors are you attracted to in a painting?  How does color shape your writing?  Do you use color as part of your description?  How does color affect your music?  

Red Sun

Oscar Wilde

"Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not the sitter."

— Oscar Wilde

Irish Poet, Novelist, Playwright

1854 -1900

Writers, artists and poets reinvent themselves in their work.  When they create a character or paint a portrait, they are recreating a portion of themselves and their lives.  Yes, it may be a portrait of another person, but the artist leaves a piece of his soul in the painting.  The great artists and writers put themselves in their work.  

Remember that your emotions, your feelings are important to your success.  Reach deep within yourself and find the heart of your emotion.  Open yourself up to the world and find the words and images that convey your emotions in new and exciting ways.

See if you can identify the artists of these portraits of women.

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.

Graham Greene

"Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation."

— Graham Greene

British Novelist

1904 - 1991

Have you ever thought of your writing or your painting as a form of therapy, as a way to help you through the challenges you face in life with at least a part of your sanity?  This goes to the heart of who do we create for?  Ourselves or others?  I think the answer for the most part is ourselves.  If we write what others want us to write or paint what others want us to paint, I think we hurt ourselves more than help ourselves.  We all have demons in our lives that we must work through.  For some it is their childhood.  For others it is the death of someone they loved dearly.  For others it is the spiritual doubts they have.  Creating works of art helps us cope with the pain that is at the heart of our lives.  It helps us face the fears that try to force us into hiding.  It helps us to keep the madness at bay for a little while.

Vincent Van Gogh

Self-Portrait

1889

"If you hear a voice within you say, 'You cannot paint,' then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced."

— Vincent van Gogh

Dutch Painter

1853 - 1890

Most of us have a voice inside that plants seeds of doubt in our hearts.  "You can't paint.  You can't write.  You can't draw.  You can't speak.  You can't sing...."  The list goes on and on.  Today we call it self-talk.  One expert says that 75% of what we say to ourselves is negative.   We need to silence that negative voice by proving him wrong.  Don't listen to that negative voice that is determined to make you fail.  Keep writing.  Keep painting.  Keep drawing.

When I teach people how to be better speakers, I talk about that second voice sitting on their shoulders.  When I first started speaking, I heard two voices — the one coming out of my mouth and the one sitting on my shoulder.  The one was positive and upbeat.  The second was nervous and negative.  The more often I spoke, the less vocal the second voice became.  Today I rarely hear that negative voice.  And when I do, I give him a quick kick and he is gone.

And the same is true of my writing.  I used to hear the voice of doubt shouting in my ear.  Today, I can barely hear him mumble.  And when he does appear, he is skin and bones and dressed in rags.  Soon he will be homeless.

The First Steps, After Jean Francis Millet

(January 1890)

I have written two poems in response to this painting, The First Steps, by Van Gogh:  A Father's Dream from the point of view of the father and A Mother's Grief from the point of view of the mother.  Just click on the titles.

Leopold Stokowski

"A painter paints pictures on canvas.  But musicians paint their pictures on silence."

— Leopold Stokowski

1882 - 1977

British Orchestral Conductor

Have you ever listened to silence?  These days it is hard to find silence, because there is so much white noise.  Even in nature there is little silence.  We hear the wind, the insects, the birds and the animals.  We fill our days with noise from the moment we wake until the moment we sleep.  We turn on the television, plug in our I-Pods, and turn on our computers.   And some of us are afraid of silence.  If silence appears in a conversation, we become nervous.  Many of us can't be home by ourselves without turning on the TV or the radio so we have noise.  And cell phones allow us to stay connected to human voices so we don't feel alone even if we are deep in the woods.  I believe silence is a good thing and that we need to find ways to enjoy it more.  As an artist and writer I need silence to hear the voice of my muse.  Too much chaotic noise blocks the sweet voice of my muse.  Do you run from silence or have you learned to appreciate it?

Here is a video of Leopold Stokowski conducting Tchaikovsky.  Watch his hands paint the silence.  Fantastic1

   

Ralph Steadman

"What I used to do with a passion, foolishly and vainly imagining I would change the world for the better, I no longer tolerate in myself or anyone else.  But draw, always draw — and WRITE."

— Ralph Steadman

British Artist, Writer

1936 -

Have you ever dreamed of changing the world — making it a better place?  Unfortunately, most people have very little influence on the world at large.  And with the one person that we do have influence over — ourselves — we usually lack the discipline for long-term change.  Have you ever tried to change a spouse or a significant other?  It rarely works.  I have often heard of wrecked marriages resulting from one person trying to change the other.

The Sheriff
1995

Revolution is often said to be the passion of youth.  And if one does not die in the revolution, one grows wiser with age.  If you study history, you will realize that even when the evil empire is overthrown, it is usually replaced by another empire that eventually becomes evil itself.  And the cycle continues.  The young want power and the old are unwilling to relinquish it.

And what you might add does all this have to do with art and writing?  Every generation or two there are revolutions in artistic taste and style.  The younger generation of artists challenges the older generation.  Today abstract expressionism is giving way to a resurgence of realism.  And tomorrow?  I won't even begin to predict.

I think Ralph Steadman has hit the nail on the head.  Stop worrying about changing the world, your spouse or even yourself.  Just create:  draw, paint and write. 

Fernando Del Paso

Venus de Milo
Ancient Greek Statue

"Literature and music exist in time: they have a beginning and an end.  Painting and sculpture exist in space. . . . Where does the Venus de Milo begin: in her navel, in her breasts, or in her head?  Where does an abstract painting begin: in the lower left corner, or in the center?"

— Fernando Del Paso

Mexican Novelist, Painter and Poet

1935 -

Back of
Venus de Milo

De Paso has raised a very interesting question:  where does a painting or a sculpture begin?  When analyzing a painting, people often identify at what point the eye is drawn into the painting.  At what point do we the viewer enter into the picture?  But that point of entry is not the beginning of the painting.  In fact, paintings and sculptures have no beginning.  They just are here and now.

The flip side of this question is:  where does the novel exist?  In the head of the writer?  On the pages of the book it is printed in?  In cyberspace somewhere?  Or in the head of the reader?  And what novel are we talking about?  Is the novel that is in the writer's head the same as the novel on the page?  Is the novel that is in the reader's head the same as what is in the writer's imagination?  

Fernando Del Paso

How many times have you as a reader altered the novel on the page by changing the looks of a character or the physical location of the story.  Unlike the painting which is concrete and visual, the novel is nebulous and changing.  Yes, we can impose our stories upon the painting, but the painting still exists outside of us.  We change the novel as soon as it enters our brain.  We have altered the story as imagined by the novelist.

Have you ever wished that a novel would not end?  You may even have slowed down your reading so that the ending would be delayed?  Novels exist in time and have a beginning and a ending, but we can continue to revisit them through our memory. 

Kimon Nicolaides

"Learning to draw is really a matter of learning to see — to see correctly — and that means a good deal more than merely looking with the eye."

— Kimon Nicolaides

American Artist, Teacher, Author

1891 - 1938

The arts involve the five senses of seeing, hearing, touch, taste and smell.  We understand the world in which we live through these five senses.  How we see the world impacts our ability to draw, paint and write.  

When I arrived home yesterday, my wife asked if I had noticed a hat hanging on one of my favorite wood statues.  I had not.  She said the hat had been there for several weeks.  My visual intake of the world around me is very selective.  I never notice the clothes people wear and I could not tell you what you were wearing yesterday.  Yet, if I visit a place I have not seen in five years, I will recognize the buildings.  

I put very little description of places and people in my writing.  And when I am reading a book with a lot of description, I tend to skip over it.

On the other hand, I am very auditory.  I can hear the slightest change in the tone of a voice.  I can hear the softest of sounds.  I cannot sleep with the radio or TV playing.  But I cannot sing worth a lick.  In fact, some people would say I am tone deaf.

How do the five senses impact your painting or writing?  Are you a visual person?  An auditory person?  How about the senses of touch, taste and smell?

Weldon Kees

"Modern society pushes people in the groove.  Although I was always interested in music and painting as well as poetry, at first I thought I had to concentrate on writing. . . one thing only.  But then the urge to paint was so strong I just went ahead and started oils.  And I didn't give up my writing — one did not exclude the other."

Weldon Kees

American Poet, Painter, Composer, Short Story Writer

1914 - 1955

As a creative leader, do you limit you creative expression to one type of art?  The common myth is that people can only do one thing.  Write poetry?  Paint portraits?  Compose music?  Write novels?  The myth is that we should focus on only one form of expression; otherwise, we will dilute our creativity not not do anything well.  We have become a society of specialists.  Painters should not write.  Writers should not play a musical instrument.  Actors should not write.

Kees believed that he could both paint and write.  "He said, "Shifting from one to the other I don't get into periods of absolute sterility that are often experienced by writers who just write, or painters who just paint."

Are you suffering from writer's block?  Pick up a paint brush and explore the world of color. Are you bored with painting?  Pick up a pen and write about your feelings.  Flipping back and forth between various art forms will keep you and your ideas fresh.

Here is a poem by Weldon Kees.

The Upstairs Room

It must have been in March the rug wore through.

Now the day passes and I stare

At warped pine boards my father's father nailed,

At the twisted grain.  Exposed, where emptiness allows,

Are the wormholes of eighty years; four generations' shoes

Stumble and scrape and fall

To the floor my father stained,

The new blood streaming from his head.  The drift

Of autumn fires and a century's cigars, that gun's

Magnanimous and brutal smoke, endure.

In March the rug was ragged as the past.  The thread

Rots like the lives we fasten on.  Now it is August,

And the floor is blank, worn smooth,

And, for my life, imperishable.