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06/19/2006: "The Awe of Drawing"
A funny thing happened on the way to writing this blog for June 2006.
I started to work on an old painting of Cassandra of the Taiowa Tribe, the heroine of my two published novels of the Cassandra's Tear Trilogy.
I used to set myself up to paint by taking a nap, falling asleep by visualizing the painting I was going to work on when I woke up. In fact I was so focused that when I awoke if I tripped over the vacuum I would end up cleaning not painting.
Now what is remarkable about this incident is that I was suddenly overcome with a vision of the figure in which the desert landscape is imposed. In the books the Taiowa, mythical remainders of an Australopithecene group that survived in the isolated and imaginary Desert of Ran, practice their arts which are dedicated to evolution.
Art is the prevailing theme. The Artist Eve leaves New York for a Mystic's Institute in the desert to fulfill a commission to paint a portrait of Cassandra who learns from her mentor and creates amazing works.
As I began to explore the ways in which I could fulfill this new vision on an already finished canvas, the desert which I have been visualizing in my writing of these books suddenly became an integral part of the painting.
I have always considered this type of incident the ultimate goal of making art. This concept goes beyond the idea of completing an image that inspires us. It takes that extra step of losing the ego by destroying what is already expressed in order to find the true essence of what the painting was really all about in order to take it to the next stage.
Now a painting previously thought to be finished transforms into a more detailed and possibly more important work and inevitably becomes more of an abstraction and not an illustration.
The confidence gained by taking this action, that is, of changing the marks the artist has made, in order to go with the flow of inner emotions to reach other levels of creativity and fulfill a sense that all artists have that they are powerful enough to change what they see through self expression.
So now the process comes full circle for me. What was envisioned has been internalized for a long time, and like a lungfish buried in the dry sand waiting for new water to be revived, emerging suddenly as a burst of inspiration and new found energy to execute.
It was inevitable. One of my main themes this last year has been a series of suites of drawings and etchings of conceptual Earthscapes with images of structural sculptures representing all the buildings and studios that could be built at the Baron Conservancy in the high desert.
For me drawing has always served two purposes. The first of course to make notations of what I am seeing for reference and then the ability to abstract factual renderings on a sound foundation. The second to elicit interior emotions and bring them to tangible imagery to determine what is being expressed by the autonomous physiology through artistic consciousness.
The second part is a method I call Creativity, Making Your Mark. It is a way of overcoming the inner critic instantly and of gaining courage through the realization that I am a creator, I can make anything I want. But more, I can change anything I don't like.
A Board Certified Internist tried my method and made a profound discovery about herself which led to our coauthoring a book. Seeking the Silent Stranger, Drawing Your Way into the Deeper Self explores the duality which affects our willingness and even ability to draw. We tested it with all sorts of Professionals and others and even the blind at the Braille Institute.
This book along with two others, Creativity, Making Your Mark and Drawing by Making Your Mark, A Successful Art Technique for drawing out creativity, are available at all booksellers and available by putting my name in books at Amazon.com which allows a look inside and Barnes and Noble.com online.
Drawing by making your mark 2003, Artistic Book
Creativity making your marktm 2005
If you are interested in trying the method, I have posted the first of a series of exercises on my website: www.barongallery.com. You are invited to send me your drawings via e-mail for discussion at barongallery@aol.com
As an artist for almost fifty years, making my living by making art, I am still always awed and inspired by the relativity of all forms of art making. Like a chain reaction, one exercise in drawing, painting, sculpting and so on inadvertently leads to an unexpected inspiration that always goes beyond expectation.
This kind of approach may seem fragmented, however if we remain open minded it is amazing what we are capable of. A segment in a painting for instance led to an entire line of hand painted garments and home furnishings which in turn led to the creation of nine larger than life sculptures based on another myth, The Impossible Love.
This led to a series of paintings of Indians which led to a collector opening a gallery to display my works in Sedona which led to a showroom in San Francisco which led to monumental sculptures and a gallery and on and on until our arrival back in Palm Springs.
This sense of exploration and adventure surely is what makes the artists life so wonderful and so committed to the practice and the lifestyle.
Crucifixion with Emergence from the Impossible Love by Hyacinthe Baron
Even more amazing is that when the focus remains on the task at hand at the moment, the artist taps into a sort of universal interest that always results in some form of exhibition and/or sale.
Hyacinthe Kuller Baron teaches classes in her Palm Springs, CA Studio and conducts AWE, Art Workshop Experiences RETREATS at her studio in Wonder Valley. Visit www.barongallery.com for details.
