[Today’s featured artwork for Day 56 of the 365 Days Project is by Margaret Glew.]
When creation is a full-body experience…
#56 – The body knows how to create. It’s not just the providence of dancers. Painters, sculptors, photographers, weavers, writers, chefs and composers all create with their bodies. It’s the perfect artist’s tool.
A gestural painting workshop I took many years ago changed the way I thought about creating. On my first day, I was told to simply put brush to paper and see what emerged. I spent the whole session working on that one painting, tweaking here and there, changing this, perfecting that. Throughout the class, the instructor simply watched me work. She never said anything until the very end of the session. “That’s nice,” she said. “But the next time you come, I want you to do at least five paintings per class. Feel the brush strokes with your body, don’t try to control them with your mind.”
The body knows more than the mind. When I let go of what I think I need to do and drop down into my body to feel where to go with my work, it’s always right.
Margaret Glew’s paintings remind me of that day when I learned to use my body to create. When I take the time to truly explore her paintings, I can feel that movement in her work. “My paintings develop out of the painting process itself,” she said. “The work comes from my heart, my body – my eye and hand in direct communication with paint and canvas. It is a process that, like life itself, is full of contradictions.”
Margaret Glew’s artwork can be viewed at: Margaret Glew
Description of the images included in this post:
Without You
Margaret Glew, Ontario, Canada
Oil on canvas
Memories Seep From My Veins
Margaret Glew, Ontario, Canada
Oil on canvas
The 365 Days Project
In 2012, Serena Kovalosky committed to writing an article a day for 365 days as an exploration into the lives of artists and the value of creative thinking in our society.
Experience the full evolution of the project! Click below to read the entire collection of articles.
Leave a Reply