Art Family and Inspiration

Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience.

Ralph Waldo Emerson


Never underestimate the value of a slow burn approach.

Tawdry Heartburn

Home for the holidays, it's an On Christmas. Every second year we all gather at the folks' place in the hills and jam more than a dozen peeps into a place built for two. Off Christmases, are when we all go to in-laws or to our respective partners' families places and give the grand parents a rest.
This year almost didn't happen, simmering tensions and ''Don't mention the war!' But a last minute text from the eldest sibling - confirming well intended meddling - kept everyone on their best behaviour. Nothing like a Xmas gathering of all the clan to show you where you come from, like it or not; around a big table, the same receding hairline in all the brothers, the same olive skin in the nieces. I have heard it said that possibly as many as 25% of all kids may unwittingly or otherwise, be fathered by someone who isn't their biological father. It's very hard for me to believe such a secret lurks at this table. The ordinariness of this particular set of genes has re-emerged in all three generations present! But can such a get together with all the inherent sentiments and agendas lurking unavoidably beneath the surface show you much about where you are going?

Dunno... It's hard to be objective when the same old dynamics and triggers are just begging for a response.

Then it's off to the cousins to see their home and studios in a town nearby, leafy and hot, thunderous clouds looming above and it's quite cool out of the intermittent sun, it's definitely summer in the highlands, south of the equator. Good coffee and home made festive biscuits and a wonder through the gardens and the two artist-studios and large gallery built in the last ten years out the back of the originally small, broken down workers cottage. A quiet suburban street in a small country town and in what was a modest residence not so long ago there is now a kick-arse place of work and dreaming that is continuing the inspirations and practices to two increasingly well known artists.

There is a distant family connection here. However, what's much more interesting for me is the diligence and commitment of these two artists. Over the years, I have had a lot to do with artists and their ideas in many ways; as an artist myself, as a collaborator and as an assessor of artists' funding applications. As such, I don't think the strength of any artist lies overly much in their ideas; there are no new ideas anyway, and good ideas are as common as doggy doo. It is what you do with a good idea and how you commit to a good idea, that makes the difference. Does a family produce an artist? You could produce evidence to argue both sides of the case I guess. It would be my argument that perhaps what is more important is firstly,what you do with your practice and secondly what you do with your family once you are an artist?

Nevertheless, what sticks in my mind is the inspiration of practice itself and practice over time. Come rain or sun it is the doing that counts, and this commitment eventually, will confirm for yourself and others that you are in fact serious....
Or seriously nuts.

Note to Tawdry.
Keep blogging, keep building your site (aworldofsecrets.com) and keep harvesting secrets.....
And, in a world of instant gratification, stay focused on the things that bring meaning and hold to a path you have faith in.

"The secret of happiness is not doing what you like, but liking what you do."

James Matthew Barrie, best known as the creator of Peter Pan, 1860-1937