Truth

“...hanging out does not make one an artist. A secondhand wardrobe and clothes doesn’t make one an artist. Neither do a hair-trigger temper, melancholic nature, propensity for tears, hating your parents, or HIV. I hate to say it – none of these make one an artist. They can help but just as being gay doesn’t make one witty … the only thing that makes one an artist is making art. And that requires the precise opposite of hanging out, a deep lonely and unglamorous task of tolerating oneself long enough to push something out.” David Rakoff


My friend John (actually, he is my sister's friend, but also my friend cause Facebook says so) posted this quote, because David Rakoff, one of the integral creatives in one of my favorite NPR shows, This American Life, passed away today.  

It's a lovely quote, and it's funny, and it's true.  I may have a secondhand wardrobe most days, and I do have a melancholic nature sometimes, and maybe I am witty on occasion( though it was my sister who was Most Witty in her graduating class- two years later, I was Most Helpful, which really means Biggest Dork). The other qualifiers- not so much.  Except for the Punchline.  Which I agree with entirely. Especially on Friday Nights in the Summer in which I am working on art with my dog asleep at my feet, which is lonely; but, not as lonely as my life would be without art.  Thanks, David.  Rest Peacefully. 

"if everyone ate flowers"

And suddenly, there is a whole series of new collages waiting for me to build them.  After spending a week lakeside in Minnesota with my family, the muse decided that I have had enough R and R.  It is time to work.

I read quite a bit by the lake: the Little Prince, Ladders to Fire, and just finished Life of Pi when I got home.  It was a passage in Ladders to Fire that opened the gates.  One of the characters, Djuna, describes how her brother went crazy when the second world war began.  He started eating flowers, believing that "if everyone ate flowers, peace would come to the world."  

And then there was the Newport Folk Festival.  NPR has amazing coverage, downloadable podcasts of live sets by Neko Case, Iron and Wine, Gillian Welch, The Avett Brothers.  Listening to the live sets of songs that have been my background music for the last several years, with accents on different verses and nuanced choruses, brings a brand new perspective to the simplest things, it's like looking through Cyr's photos and seeing how she composes photos with a different eye.  

It seems like everyone is in the studio, which is another encouraging sign.  Tom Monson hangs a solo show on Friday.  Jo has begun a new painting as well.  The PoetHouse at its best.