Another night of painting and writing…
Last week I picked up the brush for the first time in a long while and I reflected on how I came to find painting in the first place. I also reflected the cathartic effect that painting can have on a person and contrasted that with writing. Tonight I picked up where I left off, finishing one painting and continuing another.
This week though I have little to say for it has been one of those days where as I mentioned painting can outweigh effect of writing in that you simply allow yourself to be swept away by the motions of the brush, it was physically and visually cathartic. You merely have a vague image in your head and seek to express that image to the best of your ability (or perhaps you are inspired by an image in which you wish to try your hand at). You relish in the deep aroma of oils and turps and embrace the music that meanders in the background, sweeping you away and allowing you to drift further into your work and further away from all that surrounds you.
The Pinterest fail in which I produced tonight exemplifies the lighter side of painting, cathartic or not – painting can be at times nothing more than some good old fashioned fun. And I think that is when creative pursuits can be at their most powerfully cathartic, for you are not held back neuroses such as perfectionism of self-criticism and self-doubt. You simply set out to produce a piece of work that satisfies the act of catharsis and makes you smile, you satisfy the feeling of completion – for the feeling of catharsis is never quite whole until the work is complete. Generally there is no real depth to such works, you simply think of something in which you would like to try for fun and set out to do it. You don’t care if it fails miserably for it was only a bit of fun to begin with – such a mentality can be so freeing, whether writing or painting.
Oil On A3 Canvas Paper
And so as you can see tonight I painted an x- files inspired work, based on the poster featured in the series that hangs on Agent Mulders wall in his office. I was feeling quite rusty last week and so figured I would try something simple and fun to get the brush moving. That being said though perhaps it is the act of having fun that is the most cathartic, and so we should always remind ourselves to have fun when indulging in creative pursuits. Indeed it has been suggested quite often that laughter is the best remedy and even proven to reduce the symptoms of many ailments. Perhaps then it really isn’t the act of writing and painting that is cathartic rather the fun that we have when indulging in such practices, to not take ourselves so seriously, something we can quite often and very easily do – I guess then we, must ask ourselves what are we doing indulging in our favourite activities if we are not having fun? But I suppose that is a whole other side of catharsis and creativity, like Ying and Yang one cannot be without the other. They are separate and yet one in the same.
J.
The lighting in my room isn’t particularly great and so again I was unable to a decent photo.
Here the flash was on.
Often I feel the flash has a profound impact on how the painting appears on screen, but from the photos I took I felt this was the best representation, same said for the X-Files inspired work (flash off though).
Jotunn Symposium 