{"id":5093,"date":"2017-05-03T13:56:56","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T20:56:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/?p=5093"},"modified":"2017-05-03T13:56:56","modified_gmt":"2017-05-03T20:56:56","slug":"may-3-2017-beatitudes-artists-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/may-3-2017-beatitudes-artists-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"May 3, 2017 &#8211; Beatitudes for Artists, Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fcbkbttn_buttons_block\" id=\"fcbkbttn_left\"><div class=\"fcbkbttn_button\">\n                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n                                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-content\/plugins\/facebook-button-plugin\/images\/standard-facebook-ico.png\" alt=\"Fb-Button\" \/>\n                            <\/a>\n                        <\/div><div class=\"fcbkbttn_like \"><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/may-3-2017-beatitudes-artists-part-1\/\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\" layout=\"standard\"  width=\"225px\" size=\"small\"><\/fb:like><\/div><\/div><div id=\"attachment_5095\" style=\"width: 560px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Raindance-550w.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5095\" class=\"wp-image-5095 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Raindance-550w.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"550\" height=\"736\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Raindance-550w.jpg 550w, https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Raindance-550w-300x401.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Raindance-550w-224x300.jpg 224w, https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Raindance-550w-149x200.jpg 149w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5095\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;Raindance &#8211; rain and beauty, thorns and petals.&#8221;<\/p><\/div>\n<p>As promised <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/life-stories\/april-26-2017-supreme-blessings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">last week<\/a>, (when I provided you with the context for why I\u2019m doing this!) below are the first four of the eight Beatitudes that I\u2019ve re-interpreted looking through the lens of making art and becoming an artist.<\/p>\n<p><em>Jesus said:\u00a0 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I say:\u00a0 You\u2019re blessed when you first come to making art, devoid of any know-how and afraid to take the first step, for you are opening yourself to a whole new experience of being alive.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>We all start at the beginning.\u00a0 Not one of us comes out of the womb with a paintbrush in our hand.\u00a0 We all come to making art for the first time without any idea how it\u2019s done \u2013 and there\u2019s no way we could until we\u2019ve tried!\u00a0 There is an innocence, a freshness when we first begin.\u00a0 We have no idea what is to come.\u00a0 To begin requires that we be open and receptive to the art that is to come from us.\u00a0 Because, when you take it seriously and make art-making a regular practice, when you witness the stream of creations coming through you, your concept of yourself will change \u2013 forever.\u00a0 We must attempt to retain this openness as we gain skills and competence \u2013 which may be an even more difficult thing to do! Competence gives us confidence, which can tend to have us think we <em>know<\/em>.\u00a0 A perpetual cultivation of beginner\u2019s mind is what keeps us &#8211; and our work evolving, growing and coming into its fullness.<\/p>\n<p><em>Jesus said:\u00a0 Blessed are those who mourn: for they will be comforted.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I say:\u00a0 You\u2019re blessed when you feel deeply, when you let your heart feel the pain of your own life and the pain of the world, then your deepest self is revealed in your art.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Surrounding the physical heart in our chest, the heart that pumps our blood to the rest of our body \u2013 is an emotional, feeling heart.\u00a0 This heart is both tender and indestructible.\u00a0 The hurts and disappointments in life teach us to protect and conceal this heart.\u00a0 The blessing comes when we allow this heart to touch and be touched \u2013 it\u2019s where we experience awe, wonder, astonishing beauty as well as pain, loss and tragedy.\u00a0 By allowing this heart to feel, we build its capacity.\u00a0 We can withstand our own suffering and thus the suffering of the world.\u00a0 Creative expression very often finds its genesis in the suffering we\u2019ve allowed our hearts to feel.\u00a0 Think of all the human stories of great loss that led to making a difference.\u00a0 I know that I\u2019d not be making this art and living this life if I had not endured the pain of being childless.\u00a0 Ready access to this heart serves our art making as it is the instrument that receives the messages of what our art is \u2013 what materials, what subjects, what color palette.\u00a0 It guides our choices, it feeds our visual voice.\u00a0 It is the compass we follow as we share with the world the message that is ours to bring.<\/p>\n<p><em>Jesus said:\u00a0 Blessed are the meek: for they will inherit the earth.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I say:\u00a0 You\u2019re blessed if you are humble in your creative process, when you do your authentic voice shines through you most brightly.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This one brings to mind something that Ruth, a woman I used to go to church with, gave me &#8211; an understanding of the word \u201chumility\u201d.\u00a0 She said humility is a healthy relationship with our sense of self \u2013 our regard for ourselves isn\u2019t either too high or too low.\u00a0 We honor and accept our gifts <em>and<\/em> our shortcomings <em>as they are<\/em>.\u00a0 I hear people say frequently that they have no \u201cnatural talent.\u201d\u00a0 But the gift of creating isn\u2019t bestowed upon you (or not) with a magic wand; because you are alive you have the capacity to create.\u00a0 Holding that you (too) have the capacity to create provides the courage to step in and give it a go.\u00a0 And when we maintain that the art that comes through us has a life of its own, we find it odd to take full credit for it.\u00a0 We become its channel rather than its creator.\u00a0 It is when we allow this process that our art becomes a reflection both of who we are as well as something we\u2019d never have imagined.<\/p>\n<p><em>Jesus said:\u00a0 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they will be filled.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I say:\u00a0 You\u2019re blessed when you have a great desire, a hunger to create \u2013 this is the fuel for your learning and creating.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>More than talent, more than experience, more than anything else, the <em>desire<\/em> to create determines what happens in our art making lives.\u00a0 It is what gets us into our first class, it\u2019s what gets us to sit down (or stand up) and actually do our craft.\u00a0 It\u2019s what gets us through the often challenging learning process.\u00a0 It\u2019s what endures the self-criticism and fears.\u00a0 In one of Julia Cameron\u2019s (The Artist\u2019s Way) books I read a quote, attributed to Renoir.\u00a0 He said something like:\u00a0 For him the urge to paint was as persistent as the urge to pee.\u00a0 A bit earthy, but it makes his point!\u00a0 I remember reading that and actually wishing for <em>my<\/em> urge to paint to be that strong.\u00a0 This was a wise wish.\u00a0 I still don\u2019t experience the desire to paint <em>quite<\/em> that urgently \u2013 it\u2019s more that if I am away from my painting for too long, I get supremely cranky!\u00a0 But I now have the clear sense that there is a body of work in me that is in the process of emerging.\u00a0 I wonder if the desire to paint isn\u2019t the art\u2019s desire \u2013 wanting to come through us?!\u00a0 If you long for anything, if you pray for anything in becoming an artist, the most important would be to have the flames of your desire grow.\u00a0 It\u2019s where it all starts and how it\u2019s sustained.<\/p>\n<p>Stay tuned to next week for the second four\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Love,<\/p>\n<p>Cara<\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As promised last week, (when I provided you with the context for why I\u2019m doing this!) below are the first four of the eight Beatitudes that I\u2019ve re-interpreted looking through the lens of making art and becoming an artist. Jesus said:\u00a0 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-stories"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>May 3, 2017 - Beatitudes for Artists, Part 1 - Life in Full Color<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/may-3-2017-beatitudes-artists-part-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"May 3, 2017 - Beatitudes for Artists, Part 1 - Life in Full Color\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As promised last week, (when I provided you with the context for why I\u2019m doing this!) below are the first four of the eight Beatitudes that I\u2019ve re-interpreted looking through the lens of making art and becoming an artist. 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