Art is both love and friendship, and understanding; the desire to give. It is not charity, which is the giving of Things, it is more than kindness which is the giving of self. It is both the taking and giving of beauty, the turning out to the light the inner folds of awareness of the spirit. It is the recreation on another plane of the realities of the world; the tragic and wonderful realities of earth and men, and of all the inner relations of these.
- Letter, Ansel Adams to Cedric Wright, June 10, 1937.There are pictures that manifest education and there are pictures that manifest love.
- Robert Henri, The Art SpiritEllen Stewart, director of the La Mama theater, in response to a question about creativity:
"Here you are waitin' to know about cree-a-tivity. Lemme tell you somethin', baby. Carin' is where it's at. Trust me now because I know what I'm talkin' `bout -- you got a love for what you're doin' and everythin' else, all the rest of this cree-a-tivity stuff you're wonderin' `bout, baby, it just comes."
- From an interview by Denise Shekerjian in the book Uncommon GeniusAll that matters is what you love
and what you love is who you are...
- John Squadra, This Ecstasy
. . .
Does your work manifest love?
. . .
These voices — Adams writing to Wright in 1937, Henri distilling a lifetime of looking, Stewart speaking from a theater built on care — circle the same ground. Art as a form of attention. Love as the condition that makes genuine work possible.
Below, a downloadable page you can use for your own journaling. To download visit here or clicking on the image below. It is 8.5 x 11 inches in size so easy to print out.
Below that, a two-page spread from the upcoming Heron Dance journal, A Life Examined.
More on the thinking behind the journals here.
The Tao Te Ching Journal: A Path To Inner Quiet
Zen Mountain Journal blends Taoist hermit poetry, contemplative art, and reflections drawn from a lifetime shaped by wilderness, solitude, and decades doing creative work on the outer boundaries of our culture. These journals are companions for seekers — guides in the reconnection with inner quiet, beauty, and the “soundless music” of a life lived with simplicity and meaning.
• Size: 9.25 × 8.5 inches — convenient size for desk or lap.
• Hardcover — the book can be written in without a table or desk.
• Double wire-o bound to lay flat.
• Printed on Mohawk Superfine, a premium uncoated paper for a beautiful writing surface.
• 160 pages.
