 This week marked the end of the drawing class I took at the local community college. On Tuesday night we presented our assembled portfolios – over Zoom, of course. Gathering together the two dozen drawings I made this semester helped me realize the extent of what I’d learned. Despite any particular skills, I acquired another ability and the Germans have a perfect word for this “Sitzfleisch” or the ability to keep one’s ass in the chair long enough to do serious work. I gradually learned how much I could accomplish in a 3 hour sitting. I increased my artistic Sitzfleisch greatly this semester. Our very last session on Thursday night, students took turns presenting a report on a piece of art. In less cloistered years, there would be a tour to an actual gallery. There was little doubt what piece I would choose, namely “The Nightmare” by Henry Fuseli. It hangs in the Detroit Institute of Art and I visit it every time I’m at the DIA. Here is a link to a video of my presentation… (and if you notice the GLARING INCONSISTENCY I make, send me an email saying what it is with your mailing address and I’ll send you a handful of my stickers.) Allow me to convey the depth of my love for this painting. Back in 2007, when I started a website devoted to my vivid, bad dreams, I used this image as the banner. (The site hasn’t been well tended for years, but here’s a link) When I later sponsored an award for Michigan-produced short horror films, I commissioned an award statuette based on the leering green figure in this painting. We called the award The Impy. I’ve attempted to paint a master copy on a couple occasions — each embarrassingly bad! “The Nightmare” has been part of my consciousness for something like 20 years. So when I started doing research I was surprised that I knew so little about the work. I knew NOTHING about the artist or even about the piece from an art historical perspective. And it has been a good 20 years since I did any serious art historical research. The presentations had to top off at 5 minutes, so I didn’t do much digging but what I found made me intrigued to learn more. Here are a couple tidbits: — Art was not Fuseli’s first career — Fuseli’s father was an artist and he STRONGLY encouraged that Fueseli NOT follow in his footsteps, especially when the young Henry showed artistic interest as a child. Henry dutifully studied and was ordained as a Protestant minister…and was forced to abandon that career and flee Switzerland when he helped expose a corrupt local magistrate. — Fuseli, in exile, didn’t start painting seriously until his 30’s. Looking back on the far side of 50 as I am, this doesn’t seem particularly old. However, I heard several of my class mates fretting about having to “start over” at the advanced age of their late 20’s. It’s never too late to do something new. — Fuseli painted “The Nightmare” when he was 40. And this is in the late 1700’s. We joke that in 2021, 60 is the new 40. This was back when 40 was as good as dead. Though “The Nightmare” is probably what he is most famous for, much of Fuseli’s painting career was still ahead of him. There is MUCH more to say about Henry Fuseli though I’ll stop with just those tidbits. It felt poetically right that I discovered this kindred figure at the end of this class. I had been rather self-conscious about my age during most of the semester, since I was twice as old as some of the other students and nearly a decade older than the teacher. I will stop learning probably only when I stop breathing. And even if I had started my art career earlier in life, I would have continued to try new techniques, to reach just a bit beyond my grasp. |
| WHAT ARE YOU LEARNING? A skill? A bit of history? A new way to look at your work? Here’s a personal party game of sorts. Have you ever discovered someone from history who felt so familiar you thought you could have BEEN them? The “past life” metaphor is a fun way to see yourself in a different way. What have you learned since that “past life?” Or are you still making the same mistakes? How could your life be different now that you’ve learned a lesson from that previous incarnation? (HINT: even if we ALL were Cleopatra, I bet EACH of us would learn different lessons.) |
| In addition to the obligatory link to my ON-LINE ART STORE — I have a request. If you know someone who might get a kick out of these newsletters, who might be a member of the Tribe, PLEASE OH PLEASE forward it to them. And if you have received such a forwarded message, consider joining us with this subscription link: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/jX0Ddba It’s my once-a-week reflection on what it’s like being creative during the past week, designed to help you spot more resources and opportunities you may have overlooked. You in? |