Flack, Audrey. Art and Soul-Notes on Creating. New York: Dutton, 1986.
This book is a collection of quotes, thoughts, poems, and journal entries that are related to art and creativity. Audrey Flack's blunt and honest comments are both thought provoking and priceless. Some of the topics that she covers vary from art as healing to her opinions of other artists.
There are a few quotes that I would like to talk about. The first is, "A work of art is the energy manifestation of the one who created it. It holds the spirit of the artist within its shapes, forms, and colors" (81). This statement is so true. If you look at a Paul Klee then at a Picasso painting, you will notice there are obvious differences. The Klee is subtly mysterious, and pondering. The Picasso on the other hand, is loud, sometimes obnoxious, and demands your attention. Both of these painters painted their personalities.
Another statement that I liked by Flack is: "We actually receive
vibrations from paintings. These vibrations emanate from colors. When
we say we receive a charge from a work of art, it is not just psychological
in nature. Physical properties are affecting us" (16). I agree
with this statement but would also like to add that values in a painting
can also send out vibrations as well. I seem to be drawn to paintings
that have a lot of contrast in them. I find paintings with little or
no contrast in them boring and less dramatic.
Time is a separate and impossible element that is impossible to capture
in painting. Flack states this in the following:
A Rembrandt self-portrait is as alive today as the day it was created. Each time we look at it, we reenact the ritual of calling it to life, the very act of which has taken place by others performing this ritual for several hundred years. Profane time and duration are suspended. The image of the painting glides through time and space, in another dimension. (95)
I agree with Flack and feel that paintings are special types of "time capsules of feeling" that can only be opened when there is someone to see them. This reminds me of the question, "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make any noise?" Well the same applies, "If a painting is hanging in a museum and no one is there to see it, does it give off feeling?"
I enjoyed this book and find it set up perfectly for immediate inspiration. Each page has a paragraph or two similar to the quotes mentioned earlier that really get the gears turning and the mind racing about art and life. I will probably purchase a copy for my studio for when things aren't going quite as planned and I need to brighten my day.