Passion for Art

"Passion for art"

We always use, read or hear the common word “passion” for this and passion for that in particular passion for art. But what is the meaning of passion and from where was driven!? What does it mean having passion for something or to be passionate about something? Word passion has been driven from the Greek word “pathos” and has more than one meaning. It can mean something good or bad happens to us; in particular, bad thing that carries the meaning of suffering! Passion in Latin word is “passio” means suffering and the verb is “pati” means to suffer!

I definitely, do not wish to talk about suffering but about the passion for art in the optimistic sense. Our common understanding of word “passion” has been always as a fine quality to have. In a way yes, it is, for the fact that passion works as internal forces and as an inner agent to motivate oneself. It is inner feelings or personal needs to express oneself in different ways. Passion motivates us to have devotion, desire, deep interest, intense love and affection for what we wish to do or have.

When intense emotion exists usually become uncontrollable and stirs us to reach what has been foreseen from a distance. This deep feelings or needs create enthusiasm which leads to action, in turn, action will lead to success. So, we can say that Passion creates action and action creates result.

But how about the suffering part and why that was included in the original meaning of the word? When passion is left uncontrollable with no guided goals or constructive plans can cause the negative results and suffering. However, having self-discipline, strategy, clear vision and determination can result in the positive part of passion.

Now, what does all this have to do with artists having passion for art? In general artists, of all disciplines, have much passion for what they do. Yet, we have seen some artists have stopped creating art, why? Whether because of low sale or no sale at all or t\hey were dreaming too big and rushing results! This factor would induce artists to examine the inner motives and find out if they have enough passion for what they have chosen to do! Has the financial issue contributed to their decisions of quitting? Have they made enough research of how to promote their art? Have they inquired about how to turn art to business or even asked for professional assistance? Have they taken the necessary steps to reach the next step? Or have they discovered that art was not for them? When some millionaires were asked “what made them successful?” they stated that “when doing something you passionate about, the money will follow”!

Art career is one of the most difficult paths one can have to make living from. However, my fellow artists, I am not a dreamer neither I am encouraging you to be. But keeping your passion alive and passing the suffering part (the waiting period while working hard) is one of the most important ingredients to success.

And this I wish you all, not the suffering period but the successful experience.

Rest a creative Mind

“Rest a creative mind”

A creative mind needs a rest from time to time to refreshes and reenergizes itself. For the fact that a creative artist is not an automated machine that works 24 hours nonstop, and still produces same thing over and over every minute. Therefore, refreshing a creative mind is essential need for artist's creativity and productivity. That is why learning to reenergize the mind is a step toward the goal. Our surroundings of nature are available to provide what we need. Although, it is necessary for an artist's mind to slips in and out, of consciousness, to nourish their visions. Being absorbed by nature and capable of observing and meditating will inspire a creative mind for next step of improvement. When the brush keeps on moving all over the canvas, not knowing what to do, while the minds goes off somewhere else, it is the time to revive the focusing point. If your car is running out of gas, you will not be able to drive, for too long. If your brain is running out of protein and phosphors, surely do not expect to see matters clearly. If a person lacks good amount of sleep, what productivity can he/she expects next day! Yes, the brush will tend to drift and re-paint same areas with no result. Because of the mental drift as the case with beginners and less confident artists, so are the creative mind can experience same thing exactly, as if it had never painted before. In this stage, artists absolutely need to pause for reenergizing themselves. The sensitivity of a capable artist is a quality of perceiving and responding to external conditions and stimulation, absorbing lights, shapes, colors and reacting to other's feelings, attitudes and circumstances.

As far as how to reenergize oneself and for how long, this is where a personal experience fits in. Creative people gain knowledge of themselves as to how, when and where to get that craving for creating artwork and what dose influence their minds. Seeing, observing, reasoning, watching and feeling for, studying, meditating and listening to favorite music can make the big difference. Of course, self-discipline has a big role in this. These steps of nourishment would clear out the abstracts and the mind distractions. To produce the" instinctive painting" we need to be full of it and completely focused, at the moments of creating it, with no distractions. But how often can we accomplish that, with the intention of creating a new piece of art, while we might be apprehensive about other matters in life! It has been the struggle of many artists including professionals!

To keep the frame of mind, to maintain its freshness, to prolong the openness of learning new materials and to carry on the innocence of a child, creative people need to work with the subconscious mind, that has been previously, nourished, with spontaneous intention, true motives, passion and enjoyment. Watching creative children, we find that they are free from any fear, worries or calculations of matters. These factors do affect our freeness of expressing oneself whether in painting, performing, composing or any other form of art to create. In the harshness of not only the western society but in all societies, artists easily struggle, not only from many worries in making living but also, in living up to the speed of life. Freeing oneself from these factors, while crating artwork, is another struggle requires self-discipline. Liked the smell of your first medium, you will be eager to stay in your studio for long hours as when appreciating a word of wisdom, you will acquire more of it. Also, staying in a studio, for many hours, requires self-discipline. Observing Artists who started drawing and painting since childhood and probably were faced with oppositions from different ones to go in different direction, yet they have been painting still and will for the rest of their lives. Artists do not need to spare as of how to keep the innocence and the freshness in their minds for that is driven from within.

Artists brains are progressive gift where can be maturing in vision, imagination and widening out with flexibility. Hence, let us learn more about that marvelous gift was given to us, from God, learn how to use it and keep it in a healthy state.

©Mona Youssef - Realist fine artist

Is art accessory or necessity

Is art accessory or necessity?

To start with the leading answer; Artists continue creating art regardless of their economic, social, health or emotional states. Obviously, art nourishes our cognitive and aesthetic needs thus, it leads us to self-realization. Through self-assessment, we come to deeper understanding of our emotions and thoughts. It turns, this progression increases our self-awareness and grants us openness to new ideas and additional life experiences. Hence, creating or viewing art of all its forms improves the brain elasticity for better life management, tolerance and turns what we do to enjoyable tasks rather than merely duty or obligation.

Needlessly to mention the awe inspiring beauty in the universe with its infinite designs, shapes, colours, forms and even countless sounds! Apparently, art has existed even earlier than human and is extending our existences individually and collectively. And collectively, we see that art of all it forms, not merely transcends entertainment and beauty but also generates powerful emotions, serious influences and conceptual ideas which in turns become influential discoveries.

Countless evidence proved that art was not simply to communicate or to convey a message artistically. More importantly, art is to elicit an emotional response, to move and motivate us. Often times, we automatically and unconsciously use it as a tool for creative expression, advertising and tapping beyond the ordinary.

Who of you could imagine having colourless meals? Or listen to soundless music? Or watching colourless birds and flowers? These are few examples of how art gives meaning to our lives, enjoyment and helps us understand our world of which we are part.

Definitely, art is an essential element of our culture and works as barometer to measures levels of cultural sophistication. Thus, art is not accessory but necessity.

©Mona Youssef

Do artists give up at losing natural ability?

Does deficiency in physical ability prevent Artists from creating art? Experiences have proven that losing something, someone or certain ability are never reasons for giving up when motivation and passion exist.

Deaf and music: Many experiences have proven that Deaf people can feel the Music. In Health News, Nov. 28, 2001, Heather Whitestone won the Miss America pageant in 1995. Many people were amazed at how graceful she moved to the music while she was deaf. A study explained how she and so many hearing-impaired people could enjoy music. Dean Shibata, MD, found that deaf people can sense vibrations in the same part of the brain that others use for hearing. Shibata studied 10 students with profound hearing loss from birth and compared them to 11 hearing people. His study was completed at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in New York. Each person was asked to tell the researchers when they could detect a vibrating pipe in their hands. At the same time, brain scans were done to pick up signals being transmitted to the brain. Shibata found that when the deaf people felt the vibrations, some areas in the brain were responsible for hearing and showed activity.

Shibata presented his findings at a meeting of the Radiological Society of North America. "These findings suggest that the experience, deaf people have, when 'feeling' music is like the experience other people have when hearing music, and the perception of the musical vibrations by the deaf is likely every bit as real as the equivalent sounds, since they are ultimately processed in the same part of the brain," he says. Shibata believes that surgeons should be careful when performing brain surgery on a deaf person since the "hearing" area of the brain clearly has a function. He also says that this study suggests it may be helpful to expose deaf children to music early in life so that the "music centers" in their brain may be stimulated to develop.

Visual Artists: The above deficiency is no different from blind artists. We have long list of known blind Artists such as: Giovanni Gonnelli, a blind Italian sculptor of the 1600s, Michael A. Williams is a painter living in Memphis, Tennessee. The artist has an eye disorder called Stargardt's Disease and Eşref Armağan is a Turkish artist born without eyes.

Arthur Ellis is a totally blind artist in the UK who lost his sight due to meningitis. He tries to represent the visual hallucinations he experiences as a result of Charles Bonnet Syndrome - a consequence of his sightless. Keith Salmon is a visually impaired artist working in Ayrshire, Scotland. Michael Naranjo a blind Native American sculptor lost eyesight in battlefield in Vietnam. John Dugdale is a photographer who has lost most of his eyesight to CMV retinitis. Sergej Popolsin is a Russian painter who after he had studied at the College of Arts in Irkutsk, Russia - lost in 1990 his eyesight to the full extent as a cause of serious head injury. The artist is now living and working in Vienna, Austria and showing his paintings at successful exhibitions in a various of European countries. Pranav Lal is an Indian photographer who is blind since birth.John Bramblitt is a painter working in Denton, Texas who lost his sight due to epilepsy.

No wonder why there are some organizations support blind artists! Some of those organizations are the “Blind Artists Society”, USA, Ann Roughton is a landscape artist suffering from Macular Degeneration. Her paintings not only include what she sees with her partial vision, but also includes the grey haze that she sees in the center of her vision because of her Macular Degeneration. In doing so, she is literally painting sight and giving a new perspective on sight loss. Impressively enough, that blind people can perceive a level of light and form by applying this limited vision and create intelligible art. A woman who is not completely blind but severely impaired, when sculpting something, finds it easier to close her eyes to feels the material and the shape rather than seeing them with her imperfect vision. Isn’t what most artists, with normal visions, do? They realize that the importance of touch and feeling, when doing so, can create lively art on empty lifeless canvas.

There are also, artists color blind or color deficient, such as the famous painter Vincent van Gogh, Charles Meyron, Mark Zuckerberg as well Claude Monet who had cataracts and was losing the ability to tell his color apart. Such artists have opened a world of black and white art and photos.

There are artists who can turn black to white and negative to positive to make life meaningful and enjoyable. I hope that you are one of them and hope you have found this research inspiring.