The Art Spirit
by Robert Henri
I started off my vacation finding this book at a used book store the first day.
It is a book written in 1923 by American Artist, Robert Henri.
It embodies the entire system of his teaching,
plus inspiration for those to whom
the happiness to be found through all the arts is important.
"There are Moments in our lives....
"There are Moments in our lives....There are Moments in our days....
when we seem to see beyond the usual - become clairvoyant.
We reach then into reality.
Such are the moments of our greatest wisdom.
At such times there is a SONG going on within us,
as SONG to which we listen.
It fills us with SURPRISE.
We marvel at it.
We would continue to hear it.
But few are capable of holding themselves in the state of listening to their own SONG.
Intellectuality steps in and as the SONG within us is of the utmost sensitiveness,
it retires in the presence of the cold, material intellect.
We fall back and become our ordinary selves.
Yet we live in the memory of these SONGS
which in moments of intellectual inadvertence have been possible to us.
They are the pinnacles of our experience
and it is the desire to express these intimate sensations,
THIS SONG FROM WITHIN, WHICH MOTIVATES
THE MASTERS OF ALL ART."
Robert Henri
Here are just a few of the things
I've been working on down in Pacific Grove.
Here at Ford Ord State Park
just north of the Monterey area I decided to set up.
Here at Ford Ord State Park
just north of the Monterey area I decided to set up.
The weather held up nicely,
only at the end (about an hour)
I was having to hold onto everything as the winds picked up.
Second day I set up at
Lover's Point in Pacific Grove
....it was cold, and cloudy and a little windy...but I worked for 2 hours.
I also took photos and uploaded them to my laptop and then painted from some of those.
I also took photos and uploaded them to my laptop and then painted from some of those. Below you can see the upclose painting of the Gerber daisy in the vase.
Then...I spent about an hour on
painting the flowers I bought at the farmer's market in town.
Flower Market Find
painting the flowers I bought at the farmer's market in town.
Flower Market Find6" x 8" oil
I really enjoyed this one
I really enjoyed this one
as I was very happy with
the pitcher and and the lighting.
More to Come!
"Look for what you love...
Try to capture it...
Anywhere - Everywhere
Learn to see...
To understand...
ENJOY!"
Robert Henri
