[MD] MOQ and Art

[Peter Corteen]

Hi,

Mike's lengthy post about his art experiences was a pleasant, idea provoking
read. The part about "Acting is living truthfully under imaginary
circumstances" was a fresh perspective - I am not an actor though I often
thought of trying.

Marsha makes a good point about the value of the creative part of art: art
is not only about communication, it's also about self-expression. The act of
painting has a very sensual aspect to it and mixing paint is like alchemy.
The painter IS the audience and the end result depends on determination to
find a satisfactory solution. What is great about painting is that the point
of satisfaction can sometimes happen quite unexpectedly early, while other
times it has to laboured, re-digested and perhaps revisited over several
years to reach closure.

Mike mentioned a 'Method acting' technique of tricking the brain as a way
round the difficulty all artists must experience in the creative process -
how can you break the habit of seeing, hearing, performing your work. In
painting, situations arise where you suspect something doesn't quite work
properly but nevertheless you are attached to it as it is; someone told me
to look at it through a mirror in these cases.

One thing I do take issue with in Mike's exposition is: 'creating great art
is "finding the balance between the heart and the head." '. The heart is an
organ for pumping blood around the body - does he mean that you should keep
a cool head so that you don't get over excited? or is it just poor use of
words that really want to mean great art is emotional?  The heart plays a
very minor part in painting - unless it is a very big canvas and involves
climbing up ladders!

Peter