“That is beautiful which springs from inner need, which springs from the soul.”
Wassily Kandinsky
I like this quote by the late Russian painter/artist Kandinsky about how an artist makes their art sing when it is an expression of the soul. I felt this as a viewer of his paintings at the Guggenheim in New York during a retrospective several years ago.
“Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art.”
Leonardo da Vinci
I agree with Da Vinci and there needs to be a connection between the spirit and the hand for art to be spiritual and for there to be no separation between art and life.
So far, I have written less than ten essays that fit this theme and posted them on my website and to publish a book of essays which is my favoured format then I want to write around 100 which shall probably take several years and then I have to shop it around publishers preferably in New York via email and ideally get it published with a deal not self-published.
I love the following quote by the Lebanese mystic poet Khalil Gibran and I discovered his book The Prophet while travelling to India in 2001. The illustrations in it are amazing too. It was very fitting to discover it in India as particularly Southern India is very spiritual and reading the book while there opened up my soul to a deeper understanding of life. I think I didn’t read the whole book though but just segments as it’s difficult to remember as it was so long ago.
“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.”
Khalil Gibran
The following is an inspirational and wise quote from Gibran’s book The Prophet:
“The timeless in you is aware of life’s timelessness. And knows that yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream.”
Khalil Gibran, The Prophet
I like the following quote by Sufi saint Rumi:
“In Silence there is eloquence. Stop weaving and see how the pattern improves.”
Rumi
The definition of a Sufi Saint is:
“Sufi saints are mystics of Islam who emphasize a personal and direct connection with God, achieved through spiritual practices like meditation, devotion, and asceticism. They are recognized for their piety, deep spiritual insight, and contributions to the mystical branch of Islam, known as Sufism (or Tasawwuf). These saints, also called ‘Awliya’ or “Friends of God,” are revered for seeking inner purification and achieving a higher spiritual state. “
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I would love to include images of my art in the book if and when it gets published including my drawings, watercolours and performance photo shoot images. I feel in my visual art that I aspire to a deep spiritualism by always questioning my life in relation to the world both created by humans and to nature. But perhaps everything is nature.
A quote by Francis:
“A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.”
Francis of Assisi
In conclusion I hope the memory of Saint Francis can drive away my many shadows today.