“…we must get rid of this outside feeling of looking in on art. We must get on the inside and press out. Art is simply a result of expression during right feeling…Any material will do. After all, the object is not to make art, but to be in the wonderful state which makes art inevitable.” [ Read more … ]
Robert Henri
Being in the State Which Makes Art Inevitable
From my favorite book, The Art Spirit by Robert Henri: …we must get rid of this outside feeling of looking in on art. We must get on the inside and press out. Art is simply a result of expression during right feeling. It’s a result of a grip on the fundamentals of nature, the spirit [ Read more … ]
Robert Henri’s “Art Spirit” Part Two
There are so many bits of wisdom in Robert Henri’s The Art Spirit that it’s hard to know what to share. (I have “wow” and “cool” and “neat” written in red letters in the margins of just about every page…) But perhaps this is the most important thing–Robert Henri talks about creating art as the [ Read more … ]
Love is the Soul of Genius
Mozart said, “Love, love, love—that is the soul of genius.” And Johann Wolfgang von Goethe claimed that “People cannot learn what they do not love.” Unfortunately, in our intellectualized society, where the power of the word nearly always triumphs over the power of the heart, having feelings (or dare I say, passion) for something isn’t [ Read more … ]
Robert Henri’s Thoughts on Painting a Child
I’m in love with Robert Henri’s book The Art Spirit and I’ll share more later, but for now, take a look at his beautiful painting of a young child…And then read what he writes about painting children. I must win my way in with a child. He lives in a world that he has made, [ Read more … ]