contemporary collage paintings
the process
Leslie Avon Miller

My life flows when I'm in my art.


Jean De Muzio

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

I tell you, we are here on earth to fart around...


Gaia's Pond
mixed media by Leslie Avon Miller

This post is a reblog from November 12, 2010. Seth Apter at The Altered Page has an annual event in which he invites bloggers to share a post from the past.

This is what Seth has to say about Buried Treasure:

So many blogs...so little time. With so many wonderful art blogs to follow, it is difficult to always find the time to keep up with every new post -- let alone have the time to visit the posts that were put up before you discovered each blog.

So...three years ago I started an annual treasure hunt.
Buried Treasure is about digging deep to uncover some hidden gems. The premise is simple. On Wednesday, July 11th all participating bloggers will re-post one (or more) of their favorite posts that ever appeared on their blog.
So without further ado – here is one of my favorite posts. I also enjoyed the resulting conversations. You can find the original comments here.
 

Today.
I want to make art. I have time.
Walk and take photographs.
Paint.
Flat efforts.

Tidy working space.
Look at my art.

Tidy living space.
Look at other people’s art.

Read about other people’s art.
That’s what that’s about?

Look up the word oeuvre.
That’s a big word.
Not in size. In meaning.

Read poetry.
Read more poetry.
Organize poetry collection.

Stumble upon rich quote.
Laughter and gaiety.
Thinking, thinking.

Feed the cats, and find comfort in the
familiar.

See the daylight begin to fade.
Realize what it’s about for me.
Make a list of words.

A map for my work.
It’s all ok.

I kind of know what I am saying.
I am exploring, seeking, finding.
Choosing. Integrating. Releasing.

Look up the word imbue.
That one will work.

I’ve found the door to get
back in
my art.

The poem:

On Becoming the Poet You Were Meant to Become
(note to self)

Many poets are not poets
for the same reason that
many religious men are not saints:
they never succeed in being themselves.

They never get around to being the particular poet
or the particular monk they are intended to be by God.
They never become the man or the artist who is called
for by all the circumstances of their individual lives.

They waste their years in vain efforts
to be some other poet, some other saint…

They wear out their minds and bodies in a hopeless endeavor
to have somebody else's experiences or write somebody else's poems.

There is intense egoism in following everybody else.
People are in a hurry to magnify themselves
by imitating what is popular—
too lazy to think of anything better.

~Thomas Merton


The quote:


I tell you, we are here on Earth
to fart around, and don't let
anyone tell you any differently.

~Kurt Vonneget


They mean the same thing.


27 comments:

  1. Oh yes, this is a beatiful post. It made me smile!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Eric: the Vonneget quote makes me smile too. It rings so true!

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  2. Thank you. Wonderful.

    The news is full of how rushed people feel. "Turn off the TV. Cancel the phone. Sit and look," I want to say. I am so grateful to move in a slower, less "productive" way.

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    1. I agree Linda. Waaay too much "activity" and distractions in modern life. One can gain so much if we just allow our self time "to be."

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  3. Oh my. I can't figure out why this piece is working. It all looks so accidental and natural, yet displays remarkable formalities. Incredible choice for a re-post. Thanks too for that Merton quote. It strengthens my resolve. Finally that wonderful stream of consciousness piece sounds so familiar. Thanks for this post.

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    Replies
    1. Hello William. Gaia's Pond has been hanging in my studio for a year or more. I have not changed anything about it in all that time. I have finally deemed it complete. I could find nothing to add or to take away. I think one thing that it has is rhythm.
      And as for the stream of consciousness - we all do that, do we not? Thanks for visiting.

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  4. Lovely piece, Leslie . . and time to just BE . . good reminder!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jann: Days of just being are the way I refill my energy, and reengage with my life. Thanks!

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  5. What an wonderful post to resurface for Buried Treasure!

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  6. I can hardly remember where I'm going each day but I clearly remember this post...lovely and I will always love and appreciate the wise Vonneget quote!

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  7. Wise words, great poem, wonderful quote, beautiful art... you put it all in this one blogpost and I enjoyed it very much! Thanks Leslie!!

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  8. Excellent post....wise words and an ethereal painting. Tooooo enjoyable.

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  9. Great job for just farting around. Loved the post with all its wisdom.

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  10. feel i could just sink into that pond. and your words too, lovely poem. thanks for the quotes. oh by the way, glancing at the yoko and john photo, i heard yoko interviewed on an hour long radio program on NPR recently and felt so thrilled. she is some woman and has just come out with a new book. i didnt realize she was 11 or so when Nagasaki and Hiroshima happened. She talked some about that. be well, suki

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  11. OH......this is NICE. I'm inspired. Off to fart around now.........perhaps to make a list too.....make coffee, look at stitching, wander to studio.....look at metal bits......listen to chants......

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  12. grateful and grinning
    over this delicious brilliance:):):)
    GLAD thanks for this wonderful ponder,
    Jennifer

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  13. A day in the life of an artist... not a lot has changed since you first posted this.. and a lot has changed since you first posted this..

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  14. Love the Vonnegut quote. I have added it to my list!

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  15. Love the Vonnegut quote. I have added it to my list!

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  16. Nice to meet you Leslie,
    I'm following Seth Apter's 'Treasure Hunt' my first time to do it, and it is a genius of an idea!
    Love your blog and your creativity!
    Teresa in California
    http://amagicalwhimsy.blogspot.com/

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  17. LAM - I think what I like about the title and the quote is that it is about action - diving into life and art. Go well. B

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  18. Tout a été dit, Leslie. Vos oeuvres, vos mots, vos recherches, vos réflexions, votre générosité viennent supporter nos propres évolutions faites de moments d'exaltations et de moments de retraites. En alternance.

    Oui, tout a été dit.
    Alors, qu'ajouter d'autre que merci.

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  19. I remember this post very well! Glad 'Gaia's Pond' is here to stay and love Vonneget's quote and the word imbue.

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  20. Howdy,
    That's a funny Vonnegut quote - I've also read a couple of his books.

    Found you from Buried Trasure 2012. Would love for you to stop by my blog when you have a moment or 2!

    Peace,
    LuLu
    Buried Treasure #51
    www.lulu-too-beaucoup.blogspot.com
    http://twitter.com/lou_avatar

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  21. (smiling; for the second time)
    Thanks for this great re-run. I remember it well.
    The painting is so inspiring!

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  22. ooh yes.
    Thankyou for giving this gem a re run. it should be on high rotation like a hit on commercial radio.
    I hope we all can forgive ourselves for the farting around we do.

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  23. Your paintings are very quiet and serene yet powerful. Beautiful and stunning works.

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