echo and interruption

bundle by Leslie Avon Miller

The World is not something to
look at, it is something to be in.

                                                      ~ Mark Rudman

bundle and leaf

I look and look.
Looking's a way of being: one becomes,
sometimes, a pair of eyes walking.
Walking wherever looking takes one.

 

The eyes
dig and burrow into the world.
They touch
fanfare, howl, madrigal, clamor.

World and the past of it,
not only
visible present, solid and shadow
that looks at one looking.

And language? Rhythms
of echo and interruption?
That's
a way of breathing.

cracked, a self portrait series by Leslie Avon Miller

Breathing to sustain
looking,
walking and looking,
through the world,
in it.

~ Denise Levertov ~

cracked, a self portrait series by Leslie Avon Miller

It’s been 5 months since I have painted. 

I could let that break my heart. 

I could. 

Instead, I see this as another 

beautiful crack and restoration in my life. 

A new chapter.

Leslie's studio on a Saturday morning.

After a time of letting go, I am looking around me again.

 I feel the flutters of excitement and anticipation. 

Part of my beloved stash of natural materials.

Natural materials and fibers have always captured my heart. 

I was born a gatherer. 

Boxes and boxes

This is not a step back to what was; basketry. 

This is a step into the new and unknown.

dried orchids, pine needles, sea shells, leaves and nuts, weathered clothes pins...

pottery beads, dried tea bags, found drift wood and more hosta leaves

I am weaving the past into the future and the now. 

Artist books, bundles, assemblage perhaps.

Paper and natural dyes. 

fiber bundle, found shell fragment, coffee stained paper and waxed linen on maple leaf

I can’t see around the corner, 

but my eyes are as wide

 as those of a young child 

on Christmas morning.

Unscripted; An Exhibition by Thirteen Experimental Artists

Wind Changing to the East

by Leslie Avon Miller

diptych 24 x 24

acrylic and mixed media  on birch panel

Not knowing the way, I paint a space in which to breathe deeply.

 The painting becomes a stepping stone on the path, a marker of the journey. 

I feel, but I can not explain what I am learning of space, time and light. 

Artist Statement, Leslie Avon Miller

 

 Steve Aimone

The Artists Whisperer

The Artist Whisper. That’s how I think of Steve Aimone. In April of this year I spent a week in a Steve Aimone graduate work shop, working, thinking, painting, being with other artists, and getting feedback and critique from Steve. It was the second time I worked with Steve in an intensive workshop setting.

Through the Window

by Leslie Avon Miller

36 x36

Acrylic and Mixed Media on birch panel

There is something about taking the time to get away and immerse one's self in a workshop; to live and breathe in one's work in the company of other like minded individuals. The energy created is with me still, as I continue to explore my path.

The workshop is described as 

The workshops are designed to replicate the atmosphere and mindset of a graduate school fine art studio. Each artist will focus on an individual contract (or mission statement) to explore certain territory, develop a series of pieces, or explore a particular theme. Participants will introduce and refine their contract in an opening roundtable discussion. This contract serves as the genesis point for the development of work during the remainder of the retreat. 

Interactive discussions of work take place throughout the workshop, allowing artists to engage in the process of discussing one another’s working process and development. Spur of the moment, informal critiques are encouraged and facilitated. The workshop ends in a summary discussion and critique during which each artist makes a formal presentation, followed by responses from Steven Aimone, and, as time allows, other artists.
 

Leslie Avon Miller 

workshop participant

photo by Steve Aimone

Unscripted

The true work of art is born from the 'artist': a mysterious, enigmatic, and mystical creation. 

It detaches itself from him, it acquires an autonomous life, 

becomes a personality, an independent subject, animated with a spiritual breath, 

the living subject of a real existence of being.

~Wassily Kandinsky

 

Unscripted is a capstone of the work these artist have done with Steve in the last two years. 

The Old School House Arts Center is presenting ‘UNSCRIPTED’, an exhibition and sale of the newest work produced by thirteen experimental abstract artists, many of whom are FCA members. 

Over the past two years, these artists have completed a series of workshops with artist, author and instructor, Steven Aimone, MFA and this show is the culmination of their extensive work and exploration. 

Opening reception at TOSH is Wednesday, October 17 at 7pm. 

Come meet the artists and share the excitement. Show runs October 15 to November 19, 2012. 

The Old School House,122 Fern Road West, Qualicum Beach.

In conjunction with this exhibition, Vancouver Island Art Workshops is pleased to announce that Steven Aimone, MFA will give a power point slide presentation and discussion that surveys art historical examples of abstract paintings, how they work, and what kinds of expressive purposes they serve. 

Steven will conclude his presentation with a commentary and analysis of one painting from each of the participating artists. You'll leave the presentation with a greater understanding of what abstract painting is. Saturday October 27, 2012 at 2:00 PM. Only 50 tickets @ $20.00 This is a fund raising event for TOSH. info@vancouverislandartworkshops.com or call TOSH @ 250-752-6133

Many, many thanks to Mary Stewart who organizes a fabulous workshop experience, to Barbara Scott for being  so kind and generous as my host on Vancouver island, and to Lisa Danesin who took time to professionally photograph my work.  To each member of the work shop I also extend my thanks for your dedication to the arts. I appreciate you all. 

 And a special thanks to Steve for all the positive mentoring, but most of all for loving art as much as you do. 

Namaste

trying to say something

...And when they tell you life is not like this,

life is never like this, life will never be like this,

insist that the sun has always found a time and a place,

the moon too knows when and where to enter,

and you too have your stories,

and you too have your place.



~Shira Erlichman, "How to Tell a Story"

here it is studio time

pages, pages and pages

mark and scratch

carve and stamp

i follow the path to where it leads

soon there will be books

i love the sun of sweet autumn

the visit of bears and coyotes to the fruit trees

warm afternoons and crisp evenings

i want to preserve the light somehow

to remind me on dark winter nights that

the sun and moon each have their place

i want to tell each artist how much i

enjoy and revere their work

how my eyes take delight

how I read each word you write

and feel connected on the path we walk

alone but together

When the woman you live with is an artist, 

every day is a surprise. 

Clare has turned the second bedroom into a wonder cabinet, 

full of small sculptures and drawings pinned up on every inch of wall space. 

There are coils of wire and rolls of paper tucked into shelves and drawers.

The next day I come home to find that Clare 

has created a flock of paper and wire birds, 

which are hanging from the ceiling in the living room. 

A week later our bedroom windows are full of abstract blue translucent shapes 

that the sun throws across the room onto the walls, 

making a sky for the bird shapes Clare has painted there. 

It's beautiful.

The next evening I'm standing in the doorway of Clare's studio, 

watching her finish drawing 

a thicket of black lines around a little red bird. 

Suddenly I see Clare, 

in her small room, 

closed in by all her stuff, 

and I realize that she's trying to say something, 

and I know what I have to do.

~Audrey Niffengger, The Time Traveler’s Wife

Sketchbook Journey

Leslie Avon Miller Sketchbook Page

In large measure, becoming an artist consists of learning to accept yourself, 

which makes your work personal, 

and in following your own voice, 

which makes your work distinctive.

David Bayles / Ted Orland

Leslie Avon Miller Sketchbook Page

But if you want to become a decent cobbler, 

it’s not enough to enthuse over human feet. 

You have to know your leather, 

your tools, pick the right pattern, and so forth. . . . 

It holds true for artistic creation too.

~poet Wislawa Szymborska

Leslie Avon Miller Sketchbook Page

If I was asked to get rid of the Zen aesthetic 

and just keep one quality necessary to create art, 

I would say its trust. 

When you learn to trust yourself implicitly, 

you no longer need to improve something through your art. 

You simply allow it to come out, to be effortless. 

It happens just as you grow your hair. 

It grows.

~John Daido Loori

Leslie Avon Miller Sketchbook Page

 

So, know your tools, know your medium, and then trust. My art will grow. Your art will grow.

There is something about a sketch book that builds trust. There is something about a sketchbook that lets me develop my tools, my knowledge. It’s a place to think without self censorship.

Things are good. My health continues to improve without acrylic VOCs and other things I am sensitive to. A few changes have been made to the studio which is improving the air quality.

I continue to explore information about art supplies. Many artists are writing to tell me of products they have found to be good alternatives to the ones that are so toxic. 

Other artists are questioning their materials and expressing health concerns. I am continuing the research and conversation on my new blog Detoxing My Art Practice. 

 I appreciate all the emails and blog comments on this blog and the detox blog with helpful suggestions. 

Leslie Avon Miller Sketchbook Page

I have had the pleasure of interviewing artist Shayla Perreault Newcomb. Shayla's story is truly inspirational! Go here to read part one of her incredible journey from being an artist who was made ill by her materials to one who has found a new path. Surrender to Healing - a Personal Detox Story

And right now, for me, working in a sketchbook is perfect. Just perfect. I feel my artistic vision is getting stronger from this change of pace. A good thing. 

Painting is a journey. 

It is the way I mark my path through life.  

~Virginia Cobb

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.