Being interviewed by Karen, The Fog City Psychic on Blog Talk Radio was probably the high point of my week, or right up there with the Sag Full Moon/Eclipse meditation. We talked, we laughed and we were GREATLY inspired by the Sagittarian Full Moon Energy invigorating us all with passion, purpose, politics, and speaking up for our highest truth. Enjoy! (Click link above to listen)
Innocence Lost
100 Words
5/24
It is amazing how one stroke of a brush or line of charcoal can exhilarate. Without over-thinking I let the painting itself guide me into new territory, Aries rising leads the way, until something unique and intriguing is discovered.
Sometimes a little insanity is a good thing...that's what art has taught me.
Amorphous forms arise from the murky deep. Sea creatures feed.
Art making requires supreme faith in one's humanity, or what's the point in living? Working alone we face ourselves - can you handle it? What kind of world do you want to create given a choice?
5/25
My painting dreams ME into being almost as if I don't exist until I paint it so. Sometimes I'd like them to be more political, but often they just don't care...their roots grow deeper, their consciousness primeval...a reminder of hidden depths we've yet to plunder.
Innocence lost, a forgotten melody, a charm, a far off friend, a sorrow buried...these marks I make a reminder.
Paintings I love: the Post Impressionists, Expressionism, the Fauves: Matisse, Gaugin, Kirchner, Nolde, Munch, Der Blaue Reiter, early 20th century Paris, woodcuts - raw emotions.
Where to go next? One false move it's ruined.
5/26
"No" to painting today. It's so perfect and sunny but paint it is and so I sit and stare and wait and ponder and write and dream and worry and wait and hem and haw and fiddle and fuss until the birds and the breeze and me are in synch then I close my eyes, take off my glasses, put down this pen.
Can things be easy just for once? Like having someone else sell my work so I can paint and printmake and write and Circle. Does there have to be a hard part. Can't we all flow?
5/27
What's the good of expressing emotions? Well, for the "armoured amazon" (Schierse Leonard), let down by an emotion-less father figure it spells hope for mankind and I do mean the 'man' part.
The fire that burns within must be released or else one dies from the inside. Commercializing art-making brings no joy or hope or spark to me. Creating and releasing. The trick takes place in the next act: the selling and marketing of the work - not my job, but like breadcrumbs to the wolf, my paintings are being discovered by the trickster who resides in each of us.
EXTRA BIT: Perhaps by facing and owning this trickster, this huckster of dime store dreams, we can save what's left of our culture and ourselves. If dreams are paintings let mine save nothing, not souls, not dreams, not minds, no escape from ourselves. So what's left? What's the point? There is no point. We've only got our own life to make a difference. How will you make a difference? The point is to go beyond everything and into new territory and yes, I'm sure it's been explored before, but for me it's new - that's where the thrill lies. New for me, is having faith in my work in and of itself and for no other reason other than that it exists and its good and its speaks to me.
On the Art of Life and Vice Versa
Inspiration via Michael Kimmelman's book The Accidental Masterpiece On the Art of Life and Vice Versa~ Eva Hesse (sculptor) said:
All my stakes are in my work. I have given up in all else. Like my whole reality is there - I am all there." It was and she was. That was Hesse's declaration of ardor and commitment, for which she was willing to bet the house. Sol LeWitt had encouraged that attitude in one of the great freewheeling examples of an inspirational letter from one artist to another. "Learn to say 'Fuck You' to the world once in a while, " LeWitt told Hesse. "You have every right to. Just stop thinking, worrying looking over your shoulder, wondering, doubting, fearing, hurting, hoping for some easy way out, struggling, gasping, confusing, itching, scratching, mumbling, bumbling, grumbling, humbling, stumbling, rumbling, rambling, gambling, tumbling, scumbling, scrambling, hitching, hatching, bitching, moaning, groaning, honing, boning, horse-shitting, hair-splitting, nit-picking, piss-trickling, nose-sticking, ass-gouging, eyeball-poking, finger-pointing, alleyway-sneaking, long waiting, small stepping, evil-eyeing, back-scratching, searching, perching, besmirching, grinding grinding grinding away at yourself, Stop it and just DO.
Journey Into Intimacy: Expression of the Divine Feminine ~ My Artist's Statement
I don’t believe in one truth or one way and so I paint abstractly to express multiple truths and ambiguities. It is often difficult for me to express my emotions so I am driven to paint them instead, often writing beforehand to gauge my mood.
I work with acrylics because of their watery, responsive nature and quick drying time which allows me to capture fleeting moods and fiery passions in brilliant colors that blend, bleed, drip and flow onto a smooth, prepared, wooden ground.
I work large (48”x 48”) because my emotions often feel huge and overpowering. A large surface allows me to express myself using my whole body, sometimes with large house painting brushes, a garden rake and my body pressed into the paint.
I think that viewers are most inspired by my use of color and by my spontaneous and free method of working. None of my paintings are pre-planned or pre-sketched. I don’t guess ahead when I’m painting, I let the painting lead me, no matter how long it takes. Sometimes one line can take hours and hours of just looking.
I hope my paintings inspire the discovery of hidden beauty.
Kathy V. Crabbe Temecula, California May 20, 2011
Art Matters
100 Words
Art Matters. Why? Because it inspires us to become more human, more in touch with who we are and how we relate to others, the world, the big picture.
Art takes time to appreciate. It's not fast food. Some art makes you think, some feel, some both, but good art changes you and how you see the world.
My first love was children's books; the wiener dog, the collage caterpillar, Czech and Grimm's fairytales. What about you?
Can art change the world? Can making art change your life? Name one artist who inspired you the most. (My fave: Matisse).
Painting Tip #1 (above and beyond 100words)
I don't guess when I'm painting. I let the painting lead me...no matter how long it takes. Sometimes painting one single stroke can take hours and hours and hours of just looking.