a few nights ago i watched Coco Avant Chanel and i've been thinking of it ever since. this orphan girl and her sister, both making their ways through the world, equal turns of generosity and brutality... the steep ups and downs that always seem to follow people with a creative mind. i found myself wondering as i went through my long day of school and work yesterday... is it harder for us? artists, i mean. is life harder for us? is it somehow more brutal? more affecting? i guess it is. i suppose it must to be. it must be and we must let it be if we expect to be able to do this Work. we have to be sensitive and open. we have to roll on the ground and expect to get splinters. we have to allow affliction, maybe even infection. there's no way around it. and, when i think about it, i'd want it no other way. if i turn my back and drop my eyes, i am no longer really living. i no longer have anything to say. yes, it sounds so dramatic and obnoxious and romantic, i know, but i think in this climate of strange silence and strangulation of ideas, suffocation of education, and the rampant acts of Stifling i see it becomes even more important for artists to NOT RUN. i have to risk being called "dramatic". i have to risk being called "romantic" and "obnoxious" if i am to get over the threshold, if i am to stumble in to a territory that is honest and brave. as i turned on to the freeway yesterday to head to work, i thought of my mom and i wondered if she knew it was coming so soon. death. i wondered what that would feel like to know in 3 weeks i'll be dead. would i be panicked? or would i be assured of what was right for me to to do? would i know exactly how to spend those final 21 days doing? i asked myself: what would i do if i knew i only had 3 weeks to live. i'd write and i'd draw with every fucking thing i've got.
so i guess i've got my compass.
i've been drawing since 8am and only stopped to eat a bowl of oatmeal and write this. i am in the drawing today. in love. when i've got a show on the horizon, my fire and hope really start to blaze.
3 weeks to go. BURN! BURN! BURN!
6 comments:
Keep on burning, Angela and follow your compass. Lovely thoughts here, especially on the great Coco Chanel and her humble beginnings.
Rah, rah, beautiful artist friend!
Can't wait to see what you make.
elisabeth, i had no idea her life began in such a rough way! the movie really does shine a light on how exceptional and impressive she was. i will work toward being as brave. i'll hold my compass tight with TWO hands! :)
hannah! thank you, my beautiful poet friend! me too! and likewise! i'm anxious to learn more about the new projects you mentioned. :)
HI Angela_ Miss you and have been thinking about you...
Have you read "Just Kids" yet? if not... let me know and I will send you a copy...
Much love...
doug! how are you? i miss you guys!!!!
i haven't read it yet and i've been wanting to ever since it came out. i've heard nothing but wonderful things about it. must read, for sure!
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