Georgian Bay Near Honey Harbour © 2009 Michelle Basic Hendry
I went for a drive this afternoon. It was the first one since the Autumn.
This winter has been a harsh one and the window of good weather seemed to be coming to a close, so I figured I had better get out. Driving is a great time to think, explore and get inspired. I always make sure that I have a purpose, something I set out to bring back that I cannot do on foot. For just thinking, a hike is better. I ended up at the south shore of Georgian Bay as a storm front began to slowly move into the area.
Abandoned © 2009 Michelle Basic Hendry
We admire uncompromising people; people that pursue a vision or a purpose with unwavering commitment. We call these people heroes and role models. In their very nature they attract some and offend others, but their belief in themselves, their vision, does not allow them to be concerned with that.
Many of us grow up attempting to be people pleasers. As artists we know that is necessary, however, how far does one take that? Seth Godin said that it is more important that you are best in your category and that it should be specific. People that share that vision will be gravitate to it. The artist’s job is to lead it. Pleasing everyone is impossible, if not undesirable.
Questions should be – what makes you unique? What are you passionate about? What are you trying to say – not necessarily just what you think, but what do you feel? Why is it important that you communicate it? Why does it matter?
In looking at these questions I have been attempting to distill exactly why I paint. I am often accused of being all in my head – a thinker. I suppose that kind of generality works for people that like labels. Thinking is important to me – but thoughts are empty and without context unless connected to something larger, something that reaches much deeper. Success is not in its description but in the attempt, the exploration – The journey is what others relate to. Emotion is not an end in itself, but merely a symptom of thought reaching that place deep within ourselves where we keep those things which make us human. Art is about sharing the human experience and imagination.
One might assume that because of the way I think, my work might be abstract or more expressive. I suppose it might be fun to try it, but it somehow is not me – at least not at the moment. I love form and colour. Landscape and the sense of place can often be a visual metaphor for an emotion, a feeling – one that many people can relate to. Like music in a minor key can evoke a memory of love or loss, sensuality or melancholy, a landscape painting speaks through Light. The angle of light, the saturation of colour and its intensity can evoke those same feelings. A certain amount of realism is required to create recognition and relationship – and specificity – for me.
I paint to raise awareness – not for some cause – but awareness of how much we are reflected in our landscapes. We till them, pave them, grow them, abandon them, observe them, and rarely pause to absorb what we are doing. Our inner landscapes are reflected in these outer landscapes. There is beauty and sadness in all of our geography. Is any of that important? It certainly is to me. It is why I get up in the morning and what stirs my passions. If it is ever to be relevant, it needs to touch others. You.
Perhaps my work is a mirror of places – an artscape. If I am moved, I am driven to share that landscape with another and in so doing, reflect who we are back to us – whether it be a wild place or an abandoned one. What makes each of us unique is the language we choose the speak in and the way we present what we are passionate about. I know I am still working out the presentation and I am hopeful that it will continue to evolve.
If you stayed with me and read all of this post, perhaps there is some meaning here after all. I want to connect with you.
I am a lifelong fan of Pink Floyd and this song came to mind. It is a song of alienation – but in this case, perhaps an example of how art can connect (links to sound and video below):
Hey you, out there in the cold
Getting lonely, getting old
Can you feel me?
Hey you, standing in the aisles
With itchy feet and fading smiles
Can you feel me?
Hey you, dont help them to bury the light
Don’t give in without a fight.
What is your Vision?
Hi Michelle, Your post resonated something in me. As a landscape painter myself, I knew what I was trying to convey, but you put it into words. Thought provoking and beautiful post!
It did have meaning, you have such a beautiful and concise way of capturing with words the same beauty in your art.
Great post Michelle. Even better photos. Your photography is extraordinary!!
Love,
Linda
Thank you Janelle! I am relieved actually… Those intense 2 am blog sessions can have unpredictable results!
Corrine – Thank you…
Thanks, Linda. I know you love the photos from my trips!
That is a really powerful statement of your vision Michelle
I loved it.
My vision is ‘the attainment of Quality’
love
henry
Michelle,
Words are missing to tell how much i agree with you.
Thank you, Henry!
Patrick – I am sure you and I see the world in a very similar way…
Michelle. You are so right. I feel almost desperate about making that connection with my art. I’m not saying that to be pathetic, but I guess it is what is called passion. I don’t want it all to be inside my head and never go further. An artwork is like a piece of you, and showing that multiplies it.
PS. your ACEO graces my mantlepiece (it’s staying there), and so you are in my livingroom!
Ingrid – I suppose that’s why we keep trying! The connection is so fulfilling… I am glad you like the little painting! 😀
Dear Michelle, I cannot tell you how important this post is for me. It is timely as well. This is something I’ve been talking to my husband about all week, something I’ve been feeling for several months. When I wrote my book Naked in Eden, the one that is currently with my agent and about to go out to publishers, I had a strong voice, a strong sense of me. I wrote ONLY for me. But much gets edited and things get changed some…But in the actual it was for me from my heart. No pleasing anyone.
But with blogging I feel like haven’t yet found my truest voice. And THAT is my goal or vision. I can’t seem to find it in the mayhem of blogging. I read writers like this post of yours and it’s so CLEAR and TRUE and REAL. So my vision is to speak my most true voice, whether ANYONE likes it or not. Being a write for a LIVING, the lines get blurred here as I need to eat and have a roof over my head. And sometimes a writer does not have full control over editing with a publisher, etc. BUT I want what I do for a living to NOT be separate from me in ANY way. Maybe I’m not realistic, especially for a first time author, nonetheless it is what I AM going to do. I have to.
You words and questions here were as if you spoke what is in my heart. I sit writing with tears in my eyes. Thank you I am going to print this out and really think about it. And try to feel my way into it/myself/my true voice again.
You wrote:
Many of us grow up attempting to be people pleasers. ….Pleasing everyone is impossible, if not undesirable.
AND
Questions should be – what makes you unique? What are you passionate about? What are you trying to say – not necessarily just what you think, but what do you feel? Why is it important that you communicate it? Why does it matter?
This is so important and I am hugging you right now for sharing this. I think it might help me focus on what is REALLY me and what I am deeply passionate about. But them I am passionate about so many things.
Thank you for touching my heart today and speaking what is in my heart. Hugs to you, Michelle. Robin
Wow! Robin… I am touched that my words touched you. When I wrote this post I had mixed feelings about publishing it. Being authentic is risky, but the second we edit ourselves to please another, something is lost. It was a breakthrough for me and I am thrilled that it is having a ripple effect. Hugs to you and here’s to your TRUTH – and being able to make a living with it intact.
First of all; Pink Floyd #1 FOREVER!
Secondly; I’ve sometimes questioned myself on why I paint & take the photos I do. I never really seemed to come up with an answer that felt right.
Thirdly; I never realized how apt “Hey You” is at describing the artistic drive. (BTW, I used to be able to play it on guitar.)
Great post!
Thanks, Lana! I was introduced to Pink Floyd by my Dad at 5 years of age. For me, they always established the mood. This answer feels right. I feel somehow relieved!
Hi Michelle,
As I read your blog, something I heard came to mind. It is, “25% of the people you meet will not like you no matter what you do. 25% of the people you meet will not like you but can be persuaded to like you. 25% of the people you meet will like you but can be persuaded not to like you. 25% of the people you meet will like you no matter what and will stick with you through the good and bad.” So in reality being a people pleaser means you are doing it only for the 25% of the people you meet who don’t like you but could be persuaded to. Is it worth compromising your values for those people????
Hi Martin – It is certainly not – I am glad you resonated with that message too.
Whoa…you need to cut back on your profundity rations Michelle. I had to come back and read this through a few times. So its taken me a while to absorb it. Very thoughtful,profound and concise writing.
Ultimately I think the role of the artist is to contribute to the language of the culture.
If we reflect on the arts through recorded history and before , say cave paintings for instance, we find a basic human need to convey and express in a metaphorical way.
expressions include influences in his immediate realm of experience such as his physical enviroment,needs, fears, a sense of wonder and beauty,love and the spiritual, or sometimes ugliness and brutality.
So we find a human ‘fabric’ has been woven
through the ages that has a continuity born out of a need to express and share some elemental parts of our experience.
Those of us of artistic tempermeant find it an irrepresible urge to create that can’t be denied. A primitive drive that reaches down into our deepest being.
Many stories have been written,films made,about the transformative aspects of the
creating or beholding of object’s de art.
These stories vouch for the signifigance of art and its
rightful place as the ‘ lifeblood of cultures’.
i’m reminded of this story from a book I read, ‘Beautiful Loot’, about the movement of a great number of european ‘masterpieces’ during Hitler’s retreat across Europe.
There was an officer in charge of a collection looted paintings from some Italian families in Italy that were being kept in a cave. The ‘grunts’ were using some of them as card tables.
The officer was ordered to collect the paintings upon retreat and return them to Germany.After his men had assembled the paintings ,I believe one was a Tiepolo, the officer putting his life on the line disobeyed orders and had the men deliver the paintings to a local museum for safekeeping as he understood the cultural value of the art to the Italian people.
This has always stuck with me. Some scraps of canvas with daubs of paint. Yet so important.The ramifications to an entire country and the life or death of one brave soul to protect this art.
’nuff said
eddie
Hi Michelle, powerful post I just now got around to reading. I read all the way through, so to connect: I am not a visual artist but a writer, and my vision, at least for blogging, is to shine a light on the dark path of PTSD and its causes. I empathize so much with the need to connect; to me, true art is connection on a powerful level. It is hard to attain that connection; a rare thing, but the pursuit of it may be the only thing worth living for.