September 2020 Blog

Life in the Studio

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Life in the studio has changed greatly over the past months while in quarantine. The first and most notable occurrence is that sadly our beloved Tommy TuTu is no longer a part of our creative pack. Then something new has suddenly happened. Dagger is now fearful of going down the steps that lead to our studio. I don't know why this has suddenly happened. For close to four years now he has bounced down the two short steps that lead to our studio like a champ. Then recently, one day, he just put the brakes on and wouldn't come down the steps. It is so disheartening to me. I tried food and treat lures to get him to come down the two measly steps. Then one day, literally at my wits end, my dear friend, Ann, recommended I take him through the outside door that leads to the studio. There are no steps going that way. I tried her idea and it worked. I'm happy about that, but by the same token, I wish I knew what was going on in his mind that after so many hundreds of times going down the steps he suddenly has a fear of them.  Questions like: "Did I move something around in the studio?" or "Did I add something new?" But, nothing like that ever affected him before.  In fact, I've moved so many things over the years in the studio nothing... not one thing... that I've changed has ever bothered him before. I can't for the life of me figure it out. Walking in through the outside door makes him comfortable. So, here we are, another new normal. We now walk into the studio through the outside door.  Go figure!!!
Upon entering, his tail wags and you can clearly tell that he is relieved that he is safely in his space.  Then as we take our places, a sense of joy enters this creative space. I'm happy that that has not changed at all.  Miss YaYa and Dagger's tail's wag while I begin to feel a happiness take over my being,  Our studio has become for us our safe haven. A place where creativity happens and life takes a hopeful turn. So, what has changed about Dagger has little or no effect on our time in the studio. It's still the same wonderful creative world. A world where anything goes and everything happens. 

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The memories of how we would lose ourselves in the happiness permeates the studio space and we are once again transformed into creative creatures...learning and be inspired by each other.  

It's a marvelous feeling to know that we have this place to express ourselves.

Studio's for the most part can be that creative place where we learn and become inspired by our own talent. Speaking from my own experience and easel🙂, I have had the greatest pleasure of working on many paintings and literally losing myself in time. I become transcendent into a world of creative prowess that humbles me and allows me to be...well, ME.

Kandinsky, the father of abstract art, likened his time in the studio as a transcendental time where colors were other worldly and his paintings became compositions, impressions and improvisations. Much like musical compositions. According to Wikipedia.com, Kandinsky felt that "music was the ultimate teacher."  As the Der Blaue Reiter Almanac essays and theorising with composer Arnold Schoenberg indicate, Kandinsky also expressed the communion between artist and viewer as being available to both the senses and the mind (synesthesia). Hearing tones and chords as he painted, Kandinsky theorised that (for example), yellow is the colour of middle C on a brassy trumpet; black is the colour of closure, and the end of things; and that combinations of colours produce vibrational frequencies, akin to chords played on a piano. In 1871 the young Kandinsky learned to play the piano and cello.
Kandinsky also developed a theory of geometric figures and their relationships—claiming, for example, that the circle is the most peaceful shape and represents the human soul. These theories are explained in Point and Line to Plane
Published in Munich in 1911, Kandinsky's text, Über das Geistige in der Kunst, defines three types of painting; impressions, improvisations and compositions. While impressions are based on an external reality that serves as a starting point, improvisations and compositions depict images emergent from the unconscious, though composition is developed from a more formal point of view. Kandinsky compares the spiritual life of humanity to a pyramid—the artist has a mission to lead others to the pinnacle with his work. The point of the pyramid is those few, great artists. It is a spiritual pyramid, advancing and ascending slowly even if it sometimes appears immobile. During decadent periods, the soul sinks to the bottom of the pyramid; humanity searches only for external success, ignoring spiritual forces.
Colours on the painter's palette evoke a double effect: a purely physical effect on the eye which is charmed by the beauty of colours, similar to the joyful impression when we eat a delicacy. This effect can be much deeper, however, causing a vibration of the soul or an "inner resonance"—a spiritual effect in which the colour touches the soul itself."

I can't say that I'm completely likened to Wassily Kandinsky, but after learning about him, I can say that there are many times I've felt a similar way while working in our studio space. The space to me has become a spiritual kind of comfortable safe haven. It's where I feel that time has no prevalence and the tools become symbols of hope and joy. To me, that's a beautiful feeling. I think that if I was able to read Dagger's mind, he would tell me that he feels the same way too. Albeit, those pesky steps. 

Do you have a space in your home that you feel is your safe haven? A space where there's a spiritual and transcendental meditative happening every time you enter in? If you don't, you may want to create one. It can be a small space or it can be a very large space. Whatever and where ever it is, it's your space. Tell me about yours...

Whether your space is large or small...it's yours. Yours to express yourself in any way you like. So, as we always say...CREATE. LEARN and INSPIRE. And I might add, forget the your steps of fear...just let your creative juices flow and your space will become your safe haven too.😘

Happy Tails to you,
xoxo Yvonne

Bibliography:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassily_Kandinsky