Table top (sketch
Dry erase marker on Mokeskine paper
5 x 8 inches
Barbara Muir © 2019
The life of art is a good one, rich and meaningful, fun and
distracting, powerful in every way. Perhaps this drawing
doesn't show it, but I drew it one night this week while
I was waiting for students to show up. There is a lot
of waiting in most lives, but almost none in artists' lives.
We have stuff to do. In this case, I looked up photos
on my phone, got my largest marker and set to work.
Now here's the magic. The photo was of the arrangement
of fruit, flowers, wine and champagne bottles on the table
in my brother's house in Chelsea, Quebec that we visited
last weekend. When I got home from school my brother
had posted a drawing of the exact same still life. His was
much better (because he was there looking at it and I was
in Toronto working from a cell phone image) -- but the whole
coincidence was cool.
Elizabeth Gilbert hates the idea that artists have to suffer. She would
have gone right up the wall listening to Marina Abromovic's speech
at the 2009 Florence Biennale when Abromovic repeated three times
for effect that "the artist must suffer." Many artists listening to that talk
were disappointed, and left the room.
Suffer? I know Abromovic did. But the majority of artists
at the Biennale were in Florence, Italy enjoying the company
of other artists, loving Florence, eating great Italian food,
and drinking both wine and coffee at the café right at the
end of the stage.
Art has taken me everywhere, and continues to light up every
moment of my life. Thank you art. And thank you Elizabeth
Gilbert for pointing out how lucky we artists are.
Have a loving the art you see day.
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