Letting the Burden lift through art

                                                              Letting the Burden Lift
                                                                    pen and ink
                                                               Sandra J. Pineault
                                                                   April, 2013

A few weeks ago we were blessed enough to get up to the North Carolina mountains, to a lodge

we love (Lazy Bear Lodge, Villis, N.C.).  It was a time to reflect and rest after a series of tests and

medical appointments at the Mayo Clinic which left me rattled.  The lodge offers a lovely Appalacian

style porch overlooking a koi pond and garden.  I began this drawing in an intuitive style, what I call vibrational drawing.  I had no idea what would result, but I knew what was in my heart.  I simply followed where the pen and lines took me, later I worked on it on the long car ride home.  It captured me as nothing had in a long time.  When I finally looked at it I could see a combination creature: part butterfly, part dove, part whatever one would want.  The creature, who still has no name, was carrying a burden, exemplified in the sphere held aloft.  It is always a source of amazement to me how therapeutic art can be when it is carried out without expectation.  Opening  ourselves is not an easy task.  To be open and trustful when confusing and frightening news comes along is also not easy.

Pen and sketchbook can remind us that we are not alone, that we are being carried, and that

answers and help await us if we but seek.  Perhaps this should be called, The Seeker, carrying a treasure that we do not yet recognize.

It would be splendid if someone out there, among the many visitors to this blog would share their thoughts....we all help and inspire each other.  You are so very welcome, visitor.

Boston, my old friend.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims of the tragedy in Boston yesterday and their families, that those injured may survive.  That those who have suffered terrible loss be
consoled if that is possible.

That the evil one or ones who perpetrated this terrible event
may soon be brought to a fitting justice.

Boston, my old friend.

Art as Metaphor

Where does the creative urge come from that beats a steady tattoo in our souls? That urge to shape, to bend, to move fingers, hands, arms.  To write, paint, sculpt, cut, draw, bring forth from lips and instruments song and sound.  To truly see, hear, allow beauty
as well as tragedy to sound in our beings.

Above all: to seek, shout, share with the world what we have brought forth!

That is the awesomeness of blogging, that sharing.  The Internet is a vast reservoir that allows us painlessly (albeit cautiously) to go global and bring it on!

These past months I have been chasing a dream, a dream of healing.  I suspended my painting and sought creative release in writing as I have already mentioned.  The need to use my fingers and imagination to create through drawing has been strong, I have given in to it.  It is an easy, portable method of opening up my spirit.  Often those drawings speak to me, in metaphor it is true, but it is a powerful tool for healing and for enduring.

This past week my medical journey has brought me to the great Mayo Clinic.  As I sit and await a test or appointment I seek out my pen and sketch book, either to write or to draw.  I am sharing these drawings here as well as on Pinterest where there is a bottomless number of people finding that drawing, sketching and doodling is addictive and a pleasure.  My Pinterest board for sharing mine and other's drawing is called Doodling as High Art.

This was done in my writing tablet in the laboratory waiting area.  I just felt like letting loose and

quickly doodled what I call a Doodle Fish. The squared lines allowed playing with some shapes inside the fish and are amenable to some color later.

As always: first the drawing and then it names itself.

This is called Dragonspeak. I love the strength of this mythical creature as it rises up on its hind legs to fight the battle...when one is going through medical issues, it truly is a battle.  A battle to be sure one is at the right place with the right practitioner, a battle to stay hopeful and maintain a sense of humor through it all.  Often one cannot just scream out frustration and fear, so drawing these creatures allows them to do it for you.  Many articles and books have been written on the 

subject of healing through art.  I deeply believe in it.

  I practice it, always have.

Meanwhile, the house still has not found a new owner and we are at square one.  That all seems unimportant with everything else going on.  

DOODLING AS HIGH ART

I have recently become enamoured with Pinterest and its potential for letting others know about our art, as well as learning what others are doing.  If you have not yet done this, I would highly recommend it.

As part of my healing process, I am pinning a board titled Doodling as High Art.  Working in pencil as well as pen and ink is a very satisfying method of working your art and as a discovery tool.  In my work with Mandalas, this is especially true.

You can find more of my "doodles" which I call Vibrational Drawing on my board.

Nostalgie

pen and ink vibrational drawing

Sandra J. Pineault

March 2013

I am also in the process of writing a blog memoir and this speaks to me

loud and clear.  I am loving my memoir research as it has connected me

to my roots in a whole new way.  

Please see my new blog site 

http://schoolstvillage.blogspot.com

Below is a pen and ink called Rose of Sharon

For me, this kind of art is all about the connections we make and why.

I also have another new blog

http://artolifeisland.blogspot.com

This blog is an amalgamation of living on a beautiful Island

and my art.  

CREATIVITY AND HEALING FROM LOSS

                                                                 Healing and Creativity

                                                 Sandhill Cranes on their migration path; Arizona.
                                                        Photograph by Stewart Burchard
                                   

A dear friend took this photograph from a trip we all made to Arizona some years ago.  It chronicled an experience I will never forget.  The four of us had heard that over 20,00 sandhill cranes came in each day during a brief time to forage on their migratory path.  Intrigued, we went to see it.  How could there really be so many of them?

Well, there were and the sight and the sound was a nearly mystical moment for each of us.  Imagine, if you will, multiplying what you see in the photograph above. The sound of their soft voices and the whir of their wings was like a hymn quieting our souls.

Creativity comes in many guises, all of those guises help us to heal from loss, be it physical or otherwise.  This past year, as I wrote earlier, was a time of health issues that resulted in the loss of some of my independence and an increase in physical pain.  But, the year was also an intense loss of another kind, one we have come to depend on: friendship either through death or loss through misunderstanding or even just the erosion of aging.

Life is precious.  Family is precious.  Friendship is precious.
Live each moment to the fullest.

The creativity we bring to our lives can be a blessing, a gift to others.  With those friends and their spouses walking the long goodbye, I promised to send them a card each month, just to let them both
know we think of them still and send our love.  It has meant much to each spouse and even more
to us.  Another friend has suffered a terrible accident resulting in brain damage, she is under care for perhaps years before restoration of function. Often I send my own art on cards. One who no longer knows me is/was an incredible artist who constantly encouraged my work.  She no longer remembers who we are, no longer understands the wonderful art she once created.  I walked that path with her as she forgot her art bit by bit and she finally forgot me.

Perhaps my work now is to understand what my art can be for others as well as for myself.  As we show the house now, I am pleased that somehow my work speaks to those who enter our home. I also am writing more.  I have embarked upon a blog that chronicles my growing up in a very special place. It has been a tremendous boon to see how so many have responded to the blog, and that others who grew up there have shared their experiences letting me me know their thoughts.

                                                                  This is my Memoir Blog.

                                                           http://schoolstvillage.blogspot.com

A Home as Gallery

An artist's abode is a gallery in itself.  As our home is on the market, it seemed a good time to share
my work as it hangs in my own gallery.  Working color and form into home space is an act of creativity in and of itself.  Everything in our lives weaves in and out of our artist self and psyche.  We did have the exceptional gift of friends who helped us in our design and color and we still appreciate the gift of their talent.  We continue to evolve our tastes and color palettes.  The best complement came recently when someone asked: "Who staged your home for you?" The answer: we did it ourselves!  Wish us luck.  Another blank canvas awaits us elsewhere on our Island.

To friends and family up north U.S.A. we hope you are safe 

and warm as the blizzard rages around you.

Drawings and Decisions

                                                          Self-Portrait : The Artist's Hands
                                                                Sandra J. Pineault
                                                                       drawing
                                                                   My  Archives

I almost called this Confessions of an Aging Artist.
The time has come, said the walrus...
and so forth.

The time has come to pick up and downsize.  This past year has been one of health issues and readjustment.  Creativity took a hit.  At this time, I am not competing and my creativity lies more in

writing than in painting.  That, of course, could change.  It is delectable to just let it all roll, to let the chips fall while I allow each day to  tell me what it wants.  I am off the clock, as it were, and deadlines and commitments are not deciding my actions any longer.

I should have done this long ago.

Once upon a time years back I felt like doing something different, so I drew my hands. It was far from easy but  ended up being not just a challenge but enjoyable.  Drawing is always my first love.

We are planning to move to a smaller home, and I am hard at work determining what I will keep and what I will discard, sell or give away.  I have already bartered a large roll of black craft paper suitable for backing frames since it has been years since I have done my own framing.  I bartered matting and framing for a piece I actually painted recently.  This sifting through has brought discoveries like the drawing above.       Some pieces I will never throw out.

On top of that, I will be sharing a study cum studio with my husband so things will surely change.

Stay tuned....and if any of you have downsized a studio and redesigned one let me know. Right now Pinterest is a new best friend.

MY FIRST ABSTRACT PAINTING

Many years ago I stumbled upon my first abstract painting experience.  Abstract expressionism found me: not the other way round.  At a watercolor plein aire workshop led my an artist I knew and admired the scene was set.  We were working on a window box full of flowers when suddenly: boredom !  I started to work away from the subject intrigued with form and shape.

                                                               A new paradigm!

 When the workshop leader came by, he said" Well, this is different for you...!"  He was right.  As the pundit says, I done seen the light!  I never looked back.  As part of a small gallery in Rhode Island, I sold many of these "Happy Bouquets" as they were called.  I had fun with the lace, the color and everything else.....

There was also the discovery of hot press watercolor paper.  This paper allows the paint to sit more on the surface, making it amenable to caresses by the brush and other tools.  New techniques all your own can be developed in a dance of color and form.  I also love working on clayboard, another

exciting surface.  Perhaps, I will work on a video regarding these.
                                               
                                                  Who knows...would anyone like that?

What led you to like or paint abstract?   

Happy Bouquet
Sandra J. Pineault
watercolor on hot press paper
1997

More: on a wonderful abstract exhibit currently happening....

and my love affair with abstract art.

TRANSITIONS

Tree in Sabino Canyon, Arizona

Sandra Pineault

drawing

Every artist is in transition.  Transitions show the way, the path.  I am on one of those

paths.  After a year of ill health and the slowing down of my studio, I decided

a transition was taking place and to go willingly with it.  Who knows where it will take me.

 Health problems still nip at my heels, but the love and healing power of my art

still is something I must consider. 

 In the meantime, I dabble.  I observe.

I listen and watch.  I carry water and chop wood as the Zen sage observes.

Watching shadows and light, forms of the sea and forest. Watching, too,

the art of others which feeds us all.

Pinterest is a great source of art inspiration and there I found this drawing by

the architect Frank Gehry.

 The freedom of the lines is awesome, it is the kind of freedom I love.

Where are you at in your art transitions?

Art in all forms

This is a photo of one of my nieces, taken by her Dad.  It is a startlingly beautiful piece of art.  As we go digital in our art endeavors, this is a good example of the marriage between hand, eye, and digital tools.  Your eye wanders immediately to her eyes and her mouth opened in awe says it all.  The color of the butterfly against stark black and white forms gives another depth to the composition.  Many times, when I did landscapes, etc. I would take a color photo and change it to black and white to better appreciate form and function.

In another example of this new exciting time, here is another artist who has set his drawings to work in motion.....I would love to watch this process. Enjoy  this video.