What the Birds Sing . . .

“The birds they sing at the break of day, ‘Start again,’ I hear them say.”

—Leonard Cohen

Spring is here—my roses and clematis are blooming in my garden, the lawns are lush and the world is full of bird-song.  It’s a time of renewal—of starting again. 

Sometimes, as I admire the master painters’ work of yesterday and today—I wonder what struggles they endured and what it was like for them as art students? Their works of art make it all look so effortless and easy—as if they had no struggles at all. Did they ever have to start again?

The following quotes are reminders for me and I hope an inspiration for other painters who are wondering when their canvases will sing.

“Every good artist had to learn how to paint. Some may have taken to it more easily than others, but none just started out making great pictures. There are no child prodigies in painting. That’s important to keep in mind, because it tells us that painting is learnable. It’s not a gift from the gods.”

—Gregg Kreutz, from Problem Solving for Oil Painters

“A journey of a thousand canvases (miles) begins with a single brushstroke (step).”

—Confucius

“Learning from books and teachers is like traveling by carriage, . . . the carriage will serve only while one is on the highroad. He who reaches the end of the highroad will leave the carriage and walk afoot.”

—Johannes Itten

“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”

—Aristotle

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

—Mahatma Gandhi

“A person wanting to become an artist might simply go purposefully and dedicatedly to his or her room with a few books and a thousand blank canvases for four years.”

—Robert Genn

“Teachers open the door, but you must enter yourself.”

—Chinese proverb

In the same way that nature has her seasons — I also have to prepare the ground, plant the seeds and do what is necessary to grow. As a painter, I will take my cue from nature and ‘Start again.’  I leave you with one more . . .

“I would like to paint the way a bird sings.”

—Claude Monet