Sunday, July 30, 2006

On Being Alright with Being Alone

7/30/2006 4:24 AM

Sometimes being alright with being alone is the beginning of getting to know yourself. Painting is often called a lonely task, but I don’t sense that when I paint. For me a painting or drawing seems to almost take on a life of its own. It is more like a dance. Sometimes it is like a pleasant Viennese waltz or a steamy Flamenco of Andalusia. I am never really alone when I paint. Sometimes working with a painting is like entering a sparing match or better, mortal combat. I ask my self why I am doing this. It is thrilling, terrifying, yet dreadfully separate from my humanity that breathes.

If I truly want to be alone, without the struggle, the dance, the sparing match, I must be outside digging my toes in the sand or feeling the breeze on my cheek. I must be in God’s garden for me. There I can rest, think and re-navigate my path. There I find that I am never really alone. The weariness of the fight fades away into oblivion.

This draw to the field, the trees, reaching into the sky has been true for me since I was a young girl. Such solace! Perhaps that is why I have naturally fallen into being a landscape painter; it is a meditation on His loveliness flowing out of His creative power.

This I know about what is important to me. I am at my best when I am able to experience the sounds and smells and caress of the air of nature. Even the crispiest day of winter rails of power and glory that sweeps away the boredom of central heating and air conditioning. So ultimately I am least alone when I am most alone in raw creation.

In my new life this reality about who I am must be recognized. It is central to who I am. It is a non-verbal prayer and a communication that is received and returned a thousand fold. It stills all controversy.

Judith
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Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Re-inventing Ones Life

Family and Friends,

I would like to share with you some thoughts. As an artist I have felt for a long time that my work does not sufficiently reflect the essence of my calling as a human being on the earth. My life is bifurcated, or rather too compartmentalized: consequently, my artwork is truncated. Having been encouraged (not only by you from the
CIVA workshop, but several other sources) to journal as a means of identifying my true goals and personal purpose, I think a blog journal might form an integration point for my artwork in my life.

Why Re-invent Life?

In life the pressing need seems to catch up to us. Life itself presents changes. Some changes are so disorienting that they require one to re-invent life. Major changes have occurred and will continue to occur in the future. Now my life is being re-invented. How does one go about re-inventing life? For a while that is going to be the subject of my personal blog:
Art Thoughts with Judith Reidy .

Change comes in many forms: a move, a loss, restlessness due to pointless tedium, age, or a whole host of conditions. We all experience change whether we welcome it, it is thrust upon us, or we ourselves initiate it.

Because in some way you have touched me, I would very much like to invite you to comment, add your own thoughts and in general share in this search.

This inquiry from Alyson B. Standfield got me thinking about my life and how would I answer these questions.


1. If we were meeting three years from today, what has to have happened for you to feel happy about your progress?
2. What are the biggest obstacles you’ll face in order to achieve that progress?
3. What are the biggest opportunities you have that you would need to focus on to achieve those things?
4. What strengths do you have that you’ll call upon?
5. What skills or resources will you need to develop that you don’t currently have?

This following quote is what prompted me to initiate “writing my thoughts” in order to find out what I think.

“Write to find out what you think. Unless you know what you think you will always be subject to the will of others, including the media that so pervasively shape contemporary culture. Try to understand and state your motivations and reasons for believing and acting in particular ways. This is one reason to write. Draw to give your thinking visual form.” Deborah J. Haynes

I know many of you have experienced change in the form of loss or through some other situation. Others of you, artists, are concerned with developing an imagery that reflects that golden nugget placed within you as a human being. We are all engaged in the process of re-inventing.

Welcome on the journey.

In His world,

Judith

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Wednesday, July 19, 2006



His Unconsealed Loving Kindness Preserves the Soul

Strong and silent

Soft and still

Brimming with Life she rests.

Secure in HIM.