Inspiration
By: Jacobina O. SEPTEMBER 12, 2023
Inspiration is illusive. It is like a dream you want to remember in the morning after waking up. To dwell in the dream is tempting, because it removes us from the harsh reality of daily life. The more we want to hold on to the images, the sounds and the feeling, the faster it slips away. Inspiration feels much like a dream. You cannot force it, nor control it. It appears like a thunderbolt. Unexpected but clear. Much like falling in love with an idea.
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In Search for Community
By: Jacobina O. AUGUST 22, 2023
On Facebook was a picture of Georgia O’Keeffe, staring seriously at the horizon. The text said, “If there is nobody to greet you in the morning when you open your eyes and there is nobody to say goodnight, if you don’t ask anybody to be part of your day, is this freedom or loneliness? When I lived on a tropical island the inhabitants formed my community. When I was married, the children and grandchildren were a specified group of people with the last name Trump. When I lived at the Manasota Beach Club, I was an artist in residence and thus part of a community. The same held true for the Hermitage Artists Retreat. All these were geographical places where the inhabitants had to deal with the weather patterns, the local rules and food distribution. It created community.
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New Season
By: Jacobina O. AUGUST 15, 2023
Most of you know about my passion for drawing and have experienced for themselves how the mind opens up to new idea’s once the preconceived attitude goes away.
To teach on-line has the benefit of studying in your own time, privacy and speed. Even though I am a big proponent of on-line classes they also have their
down side. To meet people in person creates a stronger bond.
The Adult & Community Enrichment and I agreed on working together on long term plans teaching continuing education in calligraphy, basic drawing, colored
pencils and sketchbooks. This will all be in person at the location in Beneva Road, Sarasota. This means that you now can choose between on-line continuing
art classes with me or live sessions, privately or in a class setting.
From all the choices you have in on-line classes I am providing personal feedback on your art work. If I don’t have classes you would like to see, I will
do my best to accommodate you and share my lifelong experiences in the field. Let’s have a conversation to make something extra-ordinary happen this season.
Patron Registration begins Tuesday, September 5. Online, Phone, & Walk-in Registration begins Monday, September 11 of the Adult & Community Enrichment
(ACE) at Sarasota County Schools, 4748 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL 34233
ACE Office: 941-361-6590
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Diamonds, Love and Art
By: Jacobina O. AUGUST 8, 2023
Although an uncut diamond doesn’t have any sparkle, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth anything. When art is in the process of being created doesn’t
mean there is no value. I am thinking a lot about value these days. The value of a house, a diamond or a painting. In the Golden Age a black tulip
was super expensive and if you could afford it, was a sign of wealth.
But aside from the obvious choice of the stones as a symbol of a loving relationship, diamonds also hold deeper spiritual meanings thanks to their
rarity, purity and brilliance. Formed over billions of years and composed of pure carbon, diamond crystals help to bring together the mind and the body,
helping them work to cleanse and restore your mind, body and soul.
The shapes, textures and materials all play a role in creating a powerful message that speaks to the world. Art has the same effect. Just like diamonds,
artwork can be extremely mesmerizing. Every painting, sculpture or drawing contributes to the symbolic elements that represent a meaning. But,
just how similar is visual art to nature’s creation, diamonds?
Yesterday I made a drawing of a family with simple pencil. The people who gave me the commission were mesmerized. The first reaction was “How did you
do that so fast?” I am always chocked over the lack of knowledge about how fast a drawing or a painting should materialize. Just like the growth of
raw diamonds takes billions of years, it takes a fairly short time to cut it into a diamond. Is that fast?
My response is as usual “Do you mean that 40 years nurturing an art career is fast?” The value today of my art is not about the amount of hours
I am spending on one piece but how much emotion is touched by the viewer. I might be able to paint a valuable painting in one day and receive $5000
for it, but is this money made fast? I don’t think so. My average hourly rate is still probably $5 an hour.
The strength of the emotion means there is a deeper spiritual meaning which is purely personal and has much value.
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What is Reality?
By: Jacobina O. OCTOBER 23, 2020
Reading an article a student sent me about the fly on Pence’s head during the vice presidents debate, and how flies have been used through the centuries in paintings, made me think about the importance of art. Art makes us reflect on the deeper meaning of things that happen in the world. Flies have long held symbolic meaning in the history of art. In portraits made in Renaissance Europe, the presence of a fly symbolizes the transience of human life. In the great scheme of things, our lives are no longer than that of a fly.
For me as a painter of ‘trompe l’oeils’, the article was a moment to reflect not only on the history of flies in western painting, but to begin considering how much we like to be deceived.
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Zen and Drawing
By: Jacobina O. SEPTEMBER 4, 2020
Zen is the direct experience of what we might call ultimate reality, or the absolute, yet it is not separate from the ordinary, the relative. This direct experience is our birthright. The practice of zen meditation is a way of realizing the non-dualistic, vibrant, subtle, and interconnected nature of all life. I discovered that through using simple tools that hardly cost anything like a pencil or a pen I was able to calm my mind through drawing. Looking for the benefits of drawing I couldn’t find another more compelling reason than the connection to nature and the skill that only humans have, to draw accurately. When you start drawing with a Zen approach the world is going to change.
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Feeding and Weeding
This morning I woke up with an image of feeding a monster. Once calmed down with a cup of coffee, I contemplated what the dream meant. What does the word feeding mean?... feeding is the act of taking or being given nourishment.
An almost full moon rose in the East the day it was my turn at the Hermitage Artist Retreat to feed the newly arrived artists on the beach. It is a treat and a tradition to organize a friendly welcome to travellers who came from northern States, often having left snow covered streets that morning, at their place of origin.
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