Linda Eades Blackburn 14 Nov 2009

Ah, yes Sargent........ certainly one of my favorites!

gerard bahon 14 Nov 2009

I love impressionism , so my favorites are Pissaro , Sisley and Hassan .Theirs canvas seems to live with theirs vibrants colors .

15 Nov 2009

chris newbrook 15 Nov 2009

In my childhood I was very inspired by Gibran's mystical/romantic prose aswell and I recognized an empathy between him and William Blake.

The way they could both represent their visions in text and imagery and induce a powerful meditation for the viewer.

Do you know any links to view some of Khalil Gibran's paintings Minerva. I'm familiar with his drawings in 'The Prophet' but have never seen any repros of his paintings.

This image 'The Lovers' by Blake is very reminiscent of Gibran's work.

always loved thei Blake poem as well:

'To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower. Infinity in the palm of your hand And an eternity in an hour'.

15 Nov 2009

chris newbrook 15 Nov 2009

Thanks for those links Minerva, very interesting to approach him again and see that his work still has the same powerful affect on me as it did in the past.

Its also interesting to be aware of a spiritual link between many artists, the way their work communicates in a contemporary way, or the way it influences work decades/centuries ahead of the artist.

I think the early 20thC Dutch abstract painter, Piet Mondrian was also influenced by mysticism and spiritual art. He was well known for his abstract grid paintings but i was very interested in his early work, such as his painting 'Evolution'. With the triptych showing 3 levels of spiritual awareness, and the symbolism of the colours and shapes.

Cole McLester 15 Nov 2009

So many artists, so little time. As I get older and my knoledge base expands is is harder to say who is the favorite artist of all. Sargent is up there. I love this painting of his it has a mysterious mood and it also brings back some childhood memories of living in Spain.

16 Nov 2009

chris newbrook 16 Nov 2009

Yes Mondrian's paintings were informed by many things, including science and the occult. Some people think his abstracts are just whimsical, arbritrary grid patterns. But in fact they are crops of much larger ideas, sometimes relating to the divine proportion and mystical consrtuctions.

Sometimes they remind me of Islamic art without the arabesque. The way his grids and colours can bring on meditation and open doors to other perceptions.

16 Nov 2009

16 Nov 2009

chris newbrook 17 Nov 2009

Very interesting point Minerva. I think that vision may be an anticipation of a collective consciousness. A seed within a collective mind that's waiting to come to life through an artist/scientist. Visions are often rejected in the begining because they are so unique and different from the norm. Then gradually the vision becomes accepted and realized for the genius that it is.

Also vision is often associated with madness, because the artist is thinking so far outside the box that their sanity is often under suspicion. As you know figures like Da Vinci were multi skilled and knowledgable in many areas, including science, astronomy, anatomy, theology, philosophy etc And the more informed an artist is the more likely they are to tap into a vision and be a channel to manifest the great art.

Yes intuition is a part of the art making process, but i believe it helps to be informed by many things aswell, even if its a subconscious awareness.

Being an Aries I tend to be the hands on impatient type, but with maturity i've learnt to be more sensitive to my art making and be open to more influences and ideas. The creative process is the holy grail of happiness to me. We were born to be creative, so i cant help thinking that all those who arent able to be creative must feel very unfulfilled.

17 Nov 2009

17 Nov 2009

Cole McLester 17 Nov 2009

I am not sure about ranking artits, but Dega had a wonderful way with a brush.

chris newbrook 18 Nov 2009

Minerva I like some of Georgia O'Keefe's work to. Especialy her strong abstract works, that hover between organic symbolism and pure abstraction. I also like her b&w photography/self portraits. Have you seen those photos of her expressive hands?

I now tend to think the 100th Monkey Effect is a new age myth from the 70s, but a positive inspiring one. Though I think there must be some truth in the way a community's actions can send waves, positive or negative to another community by some kind of psychic/ethereal channel. I know that twins can pick up on eachother's mood, or if one feels pain the other twin can feel pain thousands of miles away. How can we disregard this as somekind of psychic connection?

Im fascinated by the way an artist can communicate to others in the future through his/her art. Probably my second favourite artist does this for me. A 16th century Italian Renaissance painter by the name of Andrea Del Sarto. His portraits have an ethereal way of communicating with you and the quality is so surreal an mystical it's as if he's opening a door to the life of the subject.

Maybe there should be another thread about painting v writing, asking which one is the best form of communication. They can both be mediums for art. i think it's probably best to combine them both actually and each will have a reality of it's own.

mandy thomas 19 Nov 2009

sooooooooooo many are influential and it depends on my age and mood who impresses me at the time. degas , monet, dahli the list goes on. there are many people on here i admire too xx

19 Nov 2009

19 Nov 2009

Cole McLester 19 Nov 2009

Minerva, not having taken any art history classes or done any more personal reasearch on Dega, I did not realize he did sculpture. Thank you for sharing. I belive one creative process influences others. When I paint and draw my music and writing benifit and visa versa. Any creative process is very similar in that it becomes all encompassing and sense of time vanishes as creation emerges from thought and feeling.