Making space is the secret to any art!
There are no straight lines or sharp corners in life, can you feel the imprint of your breath?
A little while back I took an art class with the Royal Academy – my hand was not allowed to break a line. Endless circles, connected, I sketched.
An imposing yet soft tree, all rounded edges and spheres where branches emerged into the space of my sketchbook. Buds and leaves jostled for space within the spheres.
Making space is the secret to any art, said the tutor; so too spheres, waves and spirals, I may add.
Spheres, colour and soft lines are part of my DNA. I would hasten to add they are part of yours too. My colours burst forth like the swell of a wave from my formative years spent in the Caribbean.
I see the soft lines of my body, its spheres and endless space too. So much space when I follow my breath, and notice its imprint on my body, mind.
“There are no straight lines or sharp corners in nature. Therefore, buildings must have no straight lines nor sharp corners,” stressed Antoni Gaudi, Spanish architect , who championed the modernist movement of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Back in the day, before time etched its lines on my skin, I gained a place to study art at the RA in London – life had other plans, and instead I ended up in Vienna. One of the most beautiful cities I know, where I did – indeed – study art, and German. And munched my way through a whole stack of pastries too!
It was also in Vienna where I visited the Hundertwasser house – with its burst of colour, spirals, greenery, and no straight line in a fascinating homage to Gaudi.
If I were a building, this is how I would be. All bursts of colour, trees, spirals and not a single straight line. What kind of building do you reckon you would be?
Maybe more statuesque and Baroque like St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Gothic like the Cologne’s Cathedral? Or maybe you’d fancy feeling fancy like a European Riviera building, or a noisy music hall?
Gothic, modern, chic, baroque – every one of these styles is clear in its use of space for art and support.
When I practise yoga, it is in the space, and the silence that I can grow. Can you relate?
When I tune into the silence and space with curiosity and compassion, I begin to understand what is showing up for me. When I am in touch with this, I can show up with kindness for those around me.
Space and silence may also feel oppressive – the eerie quiet of a dark night, being ALONE in a great big house. But silence and space are our teachers, if you get curious for long enough.
The Chinese philosopher and writer Lao Tzu said it well: Silence is a source of great strength.
Have you ever found your greatest strength in the depths of silence, or space?
I know I have. And this is a whole new story.
See you on the mat my friends!
I can feel the ease in your words my dear friend. It really is soup for my soul x
Thanks for another lovely
insightful read.
Id like to think I had some of
the integrity of a Buddhist
temple 🕉️
Looking forward to seeing.
you on Wednesday.
Craig.