I am particularly glad to hear that you have been painting from memory. I am quite certain your best work will come from dealing with the memories that have stuck after what is unessential to you in experiences has dropped away.  . . all work that is worthwhile has got to be memory work.

       Even with a model before you in the quiet light of a studio there must come a time when you have what you want to know from the model, when the model had better be sitting behind you than before, and unless such a time as this does come, it is not likely the work will get below the surface.
- Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

 As I look back on thirty years of painting, most of my favorites were from memory. Memory work allows an artist to emphasize elements that registered on the back of the mind and discard the unnecessary. But it is uncomfortable work. The results are often strange, out of proportion.

The best thing about memory work, other than the unpredictable results, is that you get better at it with practice. That and the fact that the results often grow on you over time. At first, they often feel completely wrong, but over time, they seem to acquire a kind of balance and perceptiveness.

This has some applicability to life in general. Are you willing to venture into the unknown in order to build a big life? That’s Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey.

Journal question:

Do you create out of the place between your knowing and unknowing?

. . .

• The new Art Journal by Heron Dance Press, Nurturing The Song Within, has arrived from the printer. You can order your copy here.

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