Out of the Mouth of the First Fish Stories for my Grandsons
Contact Terry
  • About this online book
  • Beyond the stories, Terry's Blog
  • Masterpiece
  • All About Spirit
  • Thoughts for 2017
  • A New Year Greeting
  • Casting a Line to Heaven
  • From Grief to Belief
  • Faith In Art
  • Spring!
  • A Way of Life?
  • Story 1
  • Story 2
  • Story 3
  • Story 4
  • Story 5
  • Story 6
  • Story 7
  • Story 8
  • Story 9
  • Story 10
  • Story 11
  • Story 12
  • Story 13
  • Story 14
  • Story 15
  • Grand Pa Terry's Recipies
  • Nature Gallery
  • Exploring the Osage
  • New Page
  • The Empty Bucket

Canons for  Artful Living

10/11/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture

A Lesson for Artful Living

I remember my studies of traditional Chinese painting, I remember Professor Lee,

a small woman from China who spoke little English, inspired me.

She taught me painting techniques without many words exchanged between us.

I watched and followed her out into nature to observe and to paint with a new

spirit. She inspired me to be a better teacher in her unassuming and

humble way. I appreciated her Eastern influence and I believed it

improved my perspective of life and the natural world. The more

abstract and calligraphic use of a brush was visually pleasing to me.

I learned more about her culture and felt a peace when I painted.

The experimental and Zen-like way of seeing enriches me today. I

observed her humility, courage, and wisdom. From her, I learned

the ancient canons of Chinese painting. She could not translate the

canons exactly, but much of what she revealed to me through them

I understood. I appreciated all she shared with me in only two years.

Three decades later, the canons have stayed with me and have grown

in meaning, presenting me with applications for better living.

Here are the canons:

~ The first canon encourages spiritual quality in the art one

produces. Applied to life, this can mean one’s life work must be

passionate.

~ The second canon encourages the artist to see basic lines and

value simplicity. Applied to life, I must see clearly the basic line

between right and wrong. It can be blurred in legalistic ways, but

remains clear in the word of God.

~ The third canon relates to confidence and reminds us that

creative strength and confidence flow out of the preceding canons.

If the first two are not followed, clear decisions and one’s potential

as a leader is at risk.

~ The fourth canon requires the artist to use color in personal

and expressive ways. This canon discourages imitation of nature. It

encourages a personal response to nature. In art and life, the value

of a color (personality of an individual) is not the color itself, but its

relationship to other colors.

~ The fifth canon encourages regard for the whole. In nature,

divine proportion must be respected. In life, we learn the value of

the team as opposed to individual stardom.

~ The sixth and final canon flows back to the first—circles are

harmonious and learning comes in cycles. This canon encourages

the art student to appreciate the work of a master. This work may be

emulated as tribute, but a true artist cannot be a copyist and unduly

influenced by another’s work. Admiration and appreciation of the

masters contributes to the student’s aesthetic. This canon starts a

new cycle of spirited learning.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.