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This is episode 27 and I want to address Art & the brain today. I was asked to write a few posts for Dr Libby Kemkaran and I thought it would be nice to share one with you today. Art is the tool that taps straight into the right hemisphere, it is the side of the imagination, the mind’s eye and the opposite of analysis.
“Can you finish your sentence, please? You always stop mid-sentence”, she said. Honestly, I was not aware that I do not end my sentences. Recently I discovered that it has to do with being on the right side of my brain, and talking is not really a thing there. It was obvious that I easily transfer to that part which obviously has to do with me being an artist.
Art & The Brain
Your right brain part is all about imagination. It will never give you an answer. However, it will show you solutions you will never find on the other side. Left is the nagging one, the verbal half that dominates you all the time. And don’t think it doesn’t pull its tricks with me; it certainly does.
Yesterday in my studio, I had it again. I showed something and whilst I talked with someone I started painting. Right away, my conversation ended. Call it Flow, yes, definitely. However, it is more than that. It is so important for me as an artist because I can let my imagination flow. Of course, you need to have the skill first, and sometimes you know what you do and often don’t, but you do it. That is energy that comes straight on the canvas. Hence the energetic vibration of a painted painting is so high that it often brings people to tears. It is why there are still queues in front of the museum. A great book about vibration is Power versus Force. Using Force is definitely not being in Flow; using Power, you are.
How to get from that left brain functioning to the other side when I do art? Most of the time I am just there. Sometimes, depending on what I did before the painting, it takes a bit of time, and I either use music or just prep my palette. Going back is a different ballgame. That is one of the reasons I joined Flow, to learn to bridge that gap. But what does it mean when I am there whilst painting? Often I finish a portrait and wake up from that state to look back and think: “ wow, who painted that?” That may sound weird, but it happens all the time. It is one of the reasons I can fall in love again and again with every portrait I have painted.
Someone asked if I am thinking whilst I am painting. The answer is short, no, I don’t. I am focused on seeing. I look at shapes and lines and spaces, and I feel. I hear the story the person told me, and things start to happen. Is this every single time? No, I have my moments, and then I know I need to go for a walk because it is always moving that brings me back.
Art is feeling. I can only say that you have to love your job, and I certainly do.
There is more to art than many have acknowledged. Art is good for your health. And the act of doing brings you to that right brain state where the summering left part has to stop. It is important in schools and it helps with the whole brain functioning instead of only the left analytical side. The Arts are not useless, they are of great importance for the development of the brain, people and the development of personalities. It releases stress, and depression and gives the opportunity to solve problems creatively. If there is anything the world needs right now, it is precisely that.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.
Next week will be about failure and what it actually means.