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| Albert Bierdstadt |
It's been a couple of weeks since my last post. I'm still here but very busy with painting and managing my Gallery in Auburn. I do however have a new intern. Her name is Jessica and she will be senior class president next year at her high school. Already, she has been a tremendous help . We are getting the gallery front repainted this week and to do lists are actually getting done.
She is also helping me out as a model for some illustration work I had to finish last week..... which brings me to the point of this important post.
There are days when I get weary. Where the sameness of Life can really get to me. I can hear Rodney Dangerfield , that "I get no respect " comedian say ... " Today the heaviness is going to get me good. It's during these times of emotional drainage and inspiration less meanderings that I need to refocus and get inspired myself. What can do this?
Each of us has a button , a metaphorical switch that can be turned on if the right message connects with our soul. Take this example for instance. In walks a gentleman into the Gallery. Upon talking to him for a time he tells me that he loves art. In fact , he loves art so much that he filled one of his homes in New Orleans with art that he had purchased from all around the world. However, the Hurricane Katrina destroyed his home and his collection. What a loss. Undeterred , he has started a new collection of art in his home here in Auburn. I asked him what makes you buy Art. What is it about Art that moves you so much that you want it in your home?
He tells me that he owns an extremely successful company that lands huge contracts across the country. At the end of a busy day working to meet the demands and challenges of the business world he says he enjoys the time where he can be alone with his paintings. His nerves are frazzled and he needs to wind down. He explains that the Art that he collects calms him down and gives him a vision of the world that is not chaotic and purposeless. He mentions he can be staring at them for hours on end and that he sees something different in them each time that brings him joy. The world is good.
I thought about this meeting the other day and it encouraged me. As an artist , we create a vehicle that in many ways is useless unless we examine its effect on the spirit of an individual. That inspires me.
As I was ruminatting about this in bed this morning , I decided to look and see what was new at iTunesU. I love this application. Colleges and Universities around the world upload free lectures on any subject and you can download them . They can come in either audio or video format. It beats being just entertained on Netflix. So , anyway , as I'm cruising the lists I notice that Biola University has some lectures available. Okay I says. I'll bite and see what up with them. Bam.... I see the title.... Of Christ and Oranges : Or How Beauty will save the World.... . Okay ... I'll bite. The blurb reads ... "Beauty stands against all the destructive and dehumanizing effects of the Fall, and it is our God-given , God-blessed privilege in His work of making beauty abound upon the earth". Now that sounds interesting and so I download the 30 minute segment. Holy Guacamole .... did I need to hear this.
The speaker is w.d. Taylor. He starts with an interesting example. He shows 2 oranges and invites someone to taste each. Each orange looks the same. The one that is selected as the best tasting has been grown organically. The other is mass produced. One will fill my stomach while the other will actually provide nourishment. Wow ... I love that analogy. In fact , he rounds out the talk with definitions of beauty which he acknowledges at the start are incomplete. I'm hooked at this point. Why? , because the speaker is aware that no definition of Beauty can ever satisfy everyone and the subject is much too complex to put into a definition. But .... as humans , imperfect as we are , we have to start somewhere... So he states that a work of Art is beautiful because it is marked by Unity , Diversity and Radiance. By Diversity he means that the maker uses different elements and has them working together in a meaningful way. .... such as a Ferrari. By Radiance, he means that the work or object attracks us by its mere presence. Its attraction is so powerful that we are at once drawn to it.
Then he states the effects of Beauty. Beauty illicites Joy. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote " Beauty is that which gives pleasure upon sight". But here is the definition that caught my heart . It was Beauty as ORDER. ..." To make something beautiful is to offer not only an image of order but an experience of order. And this experience of order can become a ministering to the soul to people torn up by fragmented schedule, meaningless work or broken relationships.
What does order imply by this definition? In the case of music, it is arranging notes and rythymms and words in such a way that is pleasing and meaningful to the hearer. Sound abstract? Well, the speaker uses an example of one of my all time favorite movies , Babette's Feast. Babette cooks an extraordinary culinary meal with the most expensive ingredients , using all her inheritance money , that is fit for royalty but in this case befitting the local peasantry. The meal was a delight to the eyes as well as to the taste. Random fruits and vegetables ordered in such a way as to create a soup, a bisk or a salad. Fire used in such an ordered way as to cook duck , fowl or lamb . Spices and Herbs are used that hightend the taste of any food element. Ahhh .... the list is endless .....Take also the miracle of when Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana. Jesus was not a party pooper. He delighted the guests with wine that was considered the BEST!
So what does Beauty say?.... it says that Chaos will not have the last word. It says that ugliness and depression will not win. Beauty says that decay can be redeemed. And it is in this transformation where the artist can transform a blighted street corner , a weed infested back yard , a ho hum meal into a special feast or a ugly wall into an inspired mural. Often times if we see the " Big Picture" we can get out of our funk and see how we can be useful and be a part of the solution as opposed to being a part of the problem.
So I feel better after writing this post. I was feeling a bit down over the weekend, but I feel recharged and renewed... with a little help from my friends. As I look at the painting by Albert Bierdstadt , it reminds me of the glory and beauty of nature. I just might do a bit of camping ..... thanks Albert!
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