Ceaseless Work
Essential observation
The title and subtitle of this post is courtesy of the French realist painter Camille Corot. He was famously happy and attributed his happiness to “Ceaseless work, either executing or observing.” It was the word observing that caught my attention and inspired me to write this post. I want to take a deeper dive into the importance of the art of observing and how it contributes to our artwork. And hopefully release some guilt, mine and perhaps yours.
You know what I mean, right? The guilt we have when we are doing something other than that thing we love to do - following our passion
You see, even though I know I don’t always have to be creating something, I feel both disappointment in myself for not making something and FOMO on the joy making gives me. The good thing is that when I am not creating, I am almost always thinking about a particular project (or two or three), mentally working out details, researching, looking at art and design images, reading, pondering, proposing, and planning how and what I will work on.
I’m observing in order to create. Observing is an integral part of the process of making! Thank you, Corot, for pointing that out to me while I was in the midst of slacking off observing and reading about being a better person/artist.
Textile artist and instructor Roxanne Lasky says, “By honing our skills for noticing things that may seem ordinary but attract us anyway, we are narrowing the focus on what our work should be about. We move into the realm of intuition.”
Right now, you’re probably thinking about how much you notice and observe things that surround you - the sky, the earth, a colorful coat or painting, or a flower. Maybe it’s closer to home: the mess you left in the kitchen, the clothes that need washing, or that painting you love. Some people are highly observant with an eye for detail (me), while others glaze over even the most beautiful things or moments.
To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.
Mary Oliver
When Corot says he is observing, I don’t think he’s just talking about observing the landscape or figure in front of him. I believe it goes deeper than that. To be an observant artist, you need to observe the unseen. An artist needs to observe how he feels about things. I’ll call this interior observation.
Interior observation is what goes on in our head as well as within our body. What are you observing in the outer world that excites you, tingles your senses, and leaves you wanting more, or at least to know more? You know that feeling when you get an idea or thought that fills you with glee and sends you scurrying into your studio, be it a table, a room, or a garden? Stop. Observe that idea and feeling.
What inspired it? Where did it come from? Were you looking at something or having an experience that, somehow divinely or otherwise, caused you to become aware of this great idea, to catch this thought, this awareness, this observation that was incandescent with meaning?
Frederick Buechner calls this “putting a frame around the moment…What the frame does is enable us to see not just something about the moment, but the moment itself.” If we don’t stop to observe this moment, we won’t understand how to translate it into our work. The momentary inspiration will wane and flail as we get caught up in mechanics and details. Framing the moment sets it off from everything else that distracts us. Framing the experience and idea does not change the moment of inspiration; it changes our way of observing the moment. Mining your thoughts and observing them as if they are colorful objects you can see with your mind’s eye can lead you to new insights, experiencing things with fresh eyes and more profound art.
In fact, interior observation is beneficial for everyone, not just artists. It is a beautiful way to get to know and understand yourself better.
Thoughts? Questions?
Quotes of the Week
Pay attention to what you do so you can find out who you are.
Mary C Morrison
A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within… Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
A thought is different than thinking. When you get a thought out of the blue, it’s inspired and sent to you, which is not the same as sitting and pondering. Pay attention to a thought.
Marge Naperski
I so love reading your post on Monday. Making for me, is the tip of the iceberg. The time I spend down rabbit holes, office tasks, cleaning up, etc… is when the creative idea that leads to making is allowed to stew until it’s ready to be served up.
I enjoyed this interior reaction article. Observing our reaction, allowing it to teach us about who we are is, as I like to say “ a gift from the Gods”. I will explain. Going to museums or art exhibits is the most obvious example of getting an interior reaction that shines the light on who we are. I’ve talked to others who have dropped to their knees, or passed out when seeing a piece of history or artwork that spoke to their journey on this planet. They didn’t know such a physical or emotional reaction would take place, but after the experience they felt a connection to themselves they didn’t know prior. This is perhaps a greater jolt than you are referring to. But, once you’ve had the big bonk on the head you definitely pay attention to the smaller gut reactions, goosebumps and feeling of joy that might have gone unnoticed before.
We are sensitive energetic beings who connect in so many phenomenal ways to our surroundings. Thank you for reminding me just how incredible we are if we pay attention.❤️❤️❤️