Are You There, God? It's Me, Francie

Are You There, God?
mixed media on canvas
36" x 36"

I don't actually think that God is my personal friend.

I suspect that God is a wild loving Force to which we return - but that is about it.

I do think it is possible that the God Force can be tapped if enough people concentrate on an issue

but it seems to me that getting angry because God 'let' something bad happen is simplistic.

Shit happens.

I had such a hard time moving into the making of abstract art.

I had to literally cut apart some of my pictures and glue them back in the wrong places.  The results were terrible but the act of doing it was a bit of a mental laxative - it seemed to tell my unconscious that I was ready to let go of a lot of crap, (pun intended).

But it is a comfortable place now and this large piece is about learning to use oil paint.




(And maybe there is a little spiritual arrogance thrown in and certainly a reference to the children's book, "Are You there God? It is Me Margaret")

Pieces of Me

Did Alice know?

I never found out.

The Pieces

"The Self might be thought of as the archetype of wholeness, and its intention is to restore wholeness to the human psyche which has been so fragmented

 - even through means which may appear to be at first destructive."

The Dream of the Cosmos, a Quest for the Soul

Anne Baring

I met for supper with three other women last week.

One of the women has twice survived breast cancer 

and chemo.

Last year her husband said he wanted to downsize 

so they sold their house.  About three months ago 

he told her he wanted a divorce.

Her children are grown up and gone.

She doesn't feel capable of going back to work as an 

EA at a local school in September.

She went through a celebratory 'glad to be rid of 

him' time of lavish spending on herself. But last 

week the bravado was gone. 

She sees that there is no husband, no family, no 

money. Just fragments of a life scattered around her 

like broken glass.

Her depression is absolute.

I feel for her.

But it is only when you are in pieces that the

process of becoming whole can begin.

I Once Was Blind II

How hard to drop the window dressing - the extraneous details that distract from the whole.

The basic shapes are starting to appear. 

Some were not in the first effort but have appeared in this one - others are emerging from behind the frippery.


I have never appreciated the courage of abstract artists.

And I certainly didn't realize how clearly they see. 




Psalm 119:18
Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things ...

***

I Once Was Blind

I'm reading Anton Ehrenzweig's "The Hidden Order 

of Art".

It is a hard go for a non-intellectual, but on the 

occasion that I do actually get something, it really 

rocks my world.

He has made me decide to explore the world of the 

abstract for awhile.

But it isn't easy to move into abstract and still say 

something.

Ehrenzweig speaks about how frightening it 

is for blind people who are suddenly given sight. 

How they must be guided to take in the 'whole of a 

thing' and not the details if they are ever going to 

learn to see with their eyes.

I've been trying to imagine how it would be to 

suddenly be presented with sight - how would I even 

start to make sense of what was happening??

"White Dog on Pink Bed" is the first effort.

It is a charming little picture but not even close to 

where I want to go with this.

If the Devil is in the details, then God must be in the 

whole - and seeing the whole of anything is far  

harder than I ever imagined - it involves so much 

more than just using our eyes.  Something all 

successful abstract artists must know I suppose.