© 2015 Hannah Phelps
Last week sometime, a buddy of mine shared this TED talk
with me on facebook. Artist Phil Hansen talks about how neurological
damage that made his hands tremble nearly ended his art career before he
had even finished school. Eventually, he went to a doctor who suggested
that maybe he could "embrace the shake" - see what kind of art he could
create with less motor control.
Hansen shares some of his pieces and projects during the presentation and it is all wonderful stuff.
His
point is that limitations, like a physical handicap, need not be
limiting at all. In fact, he found that working with a set of guidelines
was liberating and fun.
That is the boring recap version of the talk. I recommend that you watch it yourself for some inspiration.
The
message really resonated with me, especially since I had just been on a
sparsely populated island painting seascapes from life. The whole
experience is thriving within constraints, some hardly noticeable and
some uncomfortable. Small communities like the one on Appledore are
isolated without being private, water restrictions are in full effect
(think intimate living with limited bathing), meal times and swim calls
are scheduled.
On
top of that, I had established rules for my paintings: I was allowed to
spend 30 minutes on establishing a solid composition and painting
moving water. I set a timer and when it beeped, I was allowed to reset
it for another half hour to pay attention to the rocks. Usually, I was
satisfied after only 10-15 more minutes.
Why did I do this to myself?
There
are two main reasons. The first is that within a half hour, the tide
change is noticeable. Either the water disappears or the rocks do. That
means that after 30 minutes, I am not painting what I see anymore - I am
either painting what I would like my painting to be about or I am
painting from my memory. Both of those things can be done in the studio,
so there was no need to practice that on the side of a cliff.
Secondly,
I have learned the hard way that I can focus for about 45 minutes.
After that, I tend to just move my brush around, make half-hearted color
choices, and, really, get a little lazy. Laziness doesn't often lead to
great paintings.
With
the foreknowledge that I only have to pay full attention (and bake in
the sun) for less than an hour, I was able to get to work quickly in
those first few days after the students left.
Because
of the impending buzzer, I relaxed and focused and that led to some
work that I really like. I can see some prints from these paintings in
the near future.
The time limits - both the half hour and the number of days in the trip - made these paintings possible.
I maximized my opportunity to be surrounded by the sea for a week. I know that I could not have done more with more.
Note: This is all part of Leslie Saeta’s 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. I’ll remind you every day.
I love your sense of colors...thanks for sharing. Liz
ReplyDeleteThank you Liz! I appreciate your feedback, and thanks for visiting my blog!
DeleteHannah