ART, MUSIC AND THE “FLOW STATE”

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Art, FLOW STATE, Inspiration, Music, photography, Piano, Watercolor painting

I will admit it was not until recently I had heard this term “FLOW STATE” while visiting with a good friend and talking about photography. My friend Kieth Sprouse mentioned it while working on editing some photographs he had taken. This term intriqued me as a light bulb came on, that I knew what it was and had experienced it myself, but never knew it had a name for me it was just a wonderful state of being.

I asked Kieth what he meant by flow state? He was certain that when he told me I would have experienced it. It is when you get so involved in what you are doing, it seems as though minutes have passed by, yet in reality hours, had passed by. Bingo I had a name for it now, before for myself it was just a “Beautiful State of Being”

 

It was in this state of being that I had done some of my most beautiful weaving! For me it generally involved classical music, as in classical music for myself there always seemed to be an underlying current, a current that you could not quite put your finger on. It was not the tempo, it was like the steady flow of a gently flowing stream or babbling brook, constant. It was like the storm raging above the brook, (tempo) but the stream did not change its flow, it was steady. Like you were tapping into an unseen part of the music.

 

For myself, my hands were doing the work (weaving the ribbed basket), independently of where your mind was. Either I would see pictures of new designs in baskets (in my mind) or just come into a state of “Knowing” which cannot be explaind. I remember once having all the ribs in a basket where you just stared weaving the body, while listening to the complete Vivaldi’s Four Seasons” one afternoon I remember it was around 4pm when I started. I had compiled music that I loved hearing which would run for hours; when suddenly I snapped out of it The body of the basket was completed, I looked out the window, thinking I don’t remember any part of the weaving process, and What?? It is dark outside!!! I looked at the clock and it was 11pm, I had been weaving for 7 hours, yet I was stupified! It felt like no more than 30 minutes had passed by!! “FLOW STATE”

Finally the experience had a name thanks to Kieth! All my life this happened with studying Piano, drawing, painting, most any form of art. It is just a wonderful and beautiful experience,for which there are no word to describe, when it is over you are energized, as if you had done no work at all. With what most people would term the mundane, agonizingly boring thing in piano, that there is, your practice of scales, inversions, candences and arpegios. These are the rudiments of music which must be learned and memorized so that you can call on them at anytime in music, when needed. This is how I practiced piano 2 1/2 hours in morning and again in evening (5 hours per day total) I thought it was normal and that everyone did it, and could not understand why people hated it so! I just followed the “flow” you kind of got into it, Mrs. MacEnderfer, (my teacher) always commented on the flow of scales, into inversions, into cadences, into arpegios, as if all were one piece of music in and of itself. I said I don’t know I just feel like I become the music, believe me 2 1/2 hours, twice a day just seemed like minutes

 

When I had a name to put with an action, state of being, I realized in most artistic endeavors, it is like I become the music, I become the art, I become whatever I am doing, I am the music, I am the art, “I AM” everything just seems to come from within.  I am not seperate from, but it all comes from within! How? Don’t Ask, I don’t know! It just Is.

Believe me when I tell you, I still have to work at what I do, to learn these things, however when this “Flow State” starts coming it is like a dam bursts and knowledge just is there. However it does still take work in the begining. With painting just as with music, there are the rudiments to be learned, color, light, dark, texture, many things to be learned in the begining, some of which I know since I have dabbled in watecolor from the 70’s, perhaps one day I will be able to get a keyboard and pick up where I left off in piano. One thing at a time.

UPCOMING POSTS

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Art, Art Supplies, container gardening, Heritage Basket Studio & Chair Caning, OLLA'S Water Conservation System, photography, Spring, Upcoming Posts, violas

 

Well the long wintertime blues are abating here, and giving way to more creativity! This winter has been so long and boring, dark and gloomy,, it just seemed to zap all inspiration out of me for writing, lack of art supplies kept me from being creative that way as well.

Now with the advent of sugar problems, I have had to reinvent my cooking, as I do not like artificial sweeteners etc., so it has made it hard to cook and photograph recipes that everyone else can eat and enjoy, however I am trying to work around that by cooking again and giving it to friends and neighbors so that I can post those to the blog.

Today hopefully I plan on a posting about clearing out my container garden and planting of the first flowers “Violas” until summer arrives and I can plant my geraniums and other flowers.

 

 

I also was gifted a clay vessel called and Olla, a water conservation method used for thousands of years, the gift was made by Mark Williams of Charlottesville, Virginia. It was my intention to post all through last summer about the Olla, however I really wanted to use it and work through any bugs that crept up using one and get a good feel for how well it did, before starting to post this year about it. I can tell you I have nothing but “HIGH PRAISES” for them. My plants performed in the containers beyond my wildest dreams. However, I will not write it all here as I will not have a post then!

I am slowly but surely starting to gather some art supplies together, sketching pencils and watercolor paints and Chinese Brush Painting supplies together, slow process though as I have been out of supplies since about 2006 in many areas of my art supplies.

I also plan as soon as we get a nice day to take the camera out and take pictures of spring! It is my goal to get back to a regular schedule of posting now.

BASKET & ART ROOM ORGANIZATION

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Art, Card Making, jewelry making, organization, pmc, precious metal clay

well another day is here and I have been re-organizing the already organized basket and art room (I thought)! This morning after sitting down and going through card making and jewelry/Precious Metal clay items I decided that it all could be more handy. The Basketry table and supplies for that are just where they need to be. The card and jewelry supplies are small and numerous and need to be at hand to minimize getting up and down for everything.

It feels good to be getting everything organized and put back together again, and get to the point to be making things and weaving baskets once again. Now the room is so that I can walk into it and set down and have some fun, doing whatever comes to mind

This is not much of a post, however hopefully soon I will have cards, baskets and other things to post about.

POSTING TO BEGIN SOON!

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Art, Basketry, Heritage Basket Studio, New Beginings, photography

This is a short post to let everyone know that posting is to begin soon. Even though I have not posted since August 17, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I have been working on six different posts.

Sometimes life gets in the way of posting, I have gone through rough times, lately, and some depressing times. I have managed to find new avenues for my basket weaving, ways that will allow me to weave with a means by which to sell my baskets, and give me incentive to weave even in the face of adversity.

Over the past several years I have been dashed down, on the basket weaving, I believe in hopes that I would just walk away from it all. however when God gives you something to do and shows you how to do it in a dream, you just do not walk away from it all.. You find a way and strength to carry on, the face of Nay Sayers. Thanks to dear friends in other parts of the country and through prayer, I know that it is time to pick myself up and dust my self off and get back into the swing of things again.

Yes I have had very depressing times the past several years, from which I did not think I would ever recover. Now it is time to move forward and forget the past.

Over the next several weeks I will be posting on basketry, art, photography, and  the art of living once again. The past two months has given me time to reflect on these obstacles and how to work around the stumbling blocks put before me and move on with what I have to do in life, for myself.