Art, the Toil & Gratitude

A woman in a café recognized a famous artist sitting nearby.
She approached him to draw on her napkin.
He complied.
After a quick sketch, he handed the napkin back, with a significant fee.
The woman exclaimed, ‘how can you ask so much, it took you one minute to draw this?”
“No” Picasso replied, “it took me 40 years”.
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Michelangelo burnt his study drawings.
Art was considered a higher calling, and desire for the finished work to appear effortless.
Artistic skill was considered to be natural genius.

If it takes work, how can it be enlightened?
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Research proving benefits of art abound, aside from visual appeal.
Art can directly affect our energy and how we dwell in spaces. It celebrates diversity and opens our minds to possibility. It can spark creativity and innovative thinking in the viewers. It’s good for our health.

Yet instead of the source of power it can be, art is often still considered a decorative or luxury item.

One of the largest sources of charity contributions around the globe is art.
Leonardo Dicaprio’s 11th hour art auction alone raised 38$ million for charity in 2013.

What would happen if Artist’s stop creating?
I receive regular emails from artists doing just that, due to lack of sales & investors, with gallery representation being scarce.

Creating art for a living is a privilege I don’t take lightly.
Nor do I, the years spent evolving the work, with passionate desire to master and inspire in one of the most competitive industries in the world.
Is there toil? Yes.
Is there enlightenment and gratitude? Absolutely.
Algonquin New Autumn Valley 9×12 Original oil

I am blessed for the path Art has taken me. It challenges me to be my best. Infusing the work with spirit, intention, and love, asking each day, what can I give?

“Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art” Leonardo Da Vinci.

p.s I am writing to you from my new handmade walnut desk by Marc Banning. It is a work of art ~ shimmering with essence, an original elegant design created with attention to detail, and love.
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