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I don't think of myself as a writer, but as writing is involved in
everything we do I decided to post a few examples.
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When asked to comment on the following quote: "The
most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source
of all true art and science"-Albert Einstein, "What I Believe".
A
contrast and comparison of Henri Matisse's Nasturtiums with the
Painting "Dance", 1912 and Paul Signac's Women at the
Well, Opus 238, 1892
Reality vs. Illusion: A short comparison of The
Glass Menagerie, The Death of a Salesman, and A Raisin in the Sun.
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 When
asked to comment on the following quote: "The most beautiful
thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all
true art and science"-Albert Einstein, "What I
Believe". |
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 My first
reaction is, what does a patent clerk know? Was Albert Einstein using the
word mysterious in the sense of a religious truth or was his meaning in
the sense of the unknown? He was a pretty smart guy who probably well knew
the definition of the word mysterious. Upon investigating the topic, I
learned that according to Miriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
one definition of mystery is a religious truth that one can know only by
revelation and cannot fully understand. In addition Albert Einstein was a
pantheist according to Paul Harrison in A History of Pantheism
and Scientific Pantheism, the author goes on to say "pantheism
is the belief that the universe and nature are divine..." Therefore I
believe it too. I believe the most beautiful thing is an encounter with
the mysterious. While I can't speak for everyone, it is the source of my
best creations.
Never have I
felt anything as beautiful and comforting as the feeling of divine
influence working within me. I had dug myself a pretty deep hole some
years ago and tried to solve my problems by sheer determination and will
power only to end up deeper in the muck. But when I changed
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 my
tactics and accepted the truth that I could be successful, mentally, physically and spiritually, if I
would only reach out to others who had previously gone through the
process of enlightenment, and use the tools they shared with me,
my life began to turn around. I have experienced further evidence
of this truth in very simple practical ways as well. For instance,
I used to cook in a restaurant, and while I have some natural
talent I did not have any formal training or experience. Believe
me when I say I know how good a cook I was, but I was cooking
better than I knew how. I cooked for my brother frequently before
we opened the restaurant and he agreed I was cooking better than
ever before. Nothing had changed in my knowledge of cooking but
each night before my shift I would get quiet and ask the powers
that be, to give me guidance.I
discussed this with an artist friend of mine who returned with an
almost identical story about his painting. Now years later I have
begun to create art of my own and I find the same truths that held
for cooking apply to my digital projects.
If I take a moment to
center myself with a higher power, as I understand her, before I
begin to draw, the piece comes out more exciting and aesthetically
pleasing. If I attack a work of art, and try to force all of my
knowledge of line, form, color and composition into the piece I
frequently end up needing to start over. My knowledge of art does
not change from one piece to the next but, I can tell by the
expression on the faces of people who view them that the piece I
did after centering my consciousness is much more successful than
the other.
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 Please
don't misunderstand me, I think it is important to learn the
theories and techniques of your art or science, and that the more
we practice the better we can achieve. The learning and practice
sessions are part of the centering of our consciousness. I
wouldn't ask a painter to replace the brakes on my automobile. He
may well be centered and prepared to create a master painting but
unless he has had the mechanical training, he is not fully
centered for the job at hand. Sometimes the centering process is
developed over years or even a lifetime devotion to our personal
ministries. Sir Isaac Newton may well have been sitting under an
apple tree when he discovered gravity but he had the training and
knowledge to know what it was he was discovering. I have been hit
in the head many times and never gave gravity a thought.
I
had to do everything I did to get were I got. I had to go through all the
chaos of my youth before I was ready to accept that I didn't know
everything, that I didn't have all the answers. I wasn't raised by wolves,
my parents, teachers and others had taught me many things but I thought I
knew better than anyone else. It wasn't until I accepted my ignorance that
I became teachable. I have learned to try and be open-minded, to listen to
others, and to get quiet and wait for divine inspiration. A close friend
suggested that praying was talking to God and meditating was listening.
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 I spent
the first half of my life in fear, chaos and confusion about what was
going to happen next. In, what I call, the second half of my life I trust
more in the unknown and embrace the mysterious; I'm happily married with a
roof over my head and I'm about to graduate with honors with an
associate's degree in a field that I find stimulating, interesting, and
exciting. In addition and probably most importantly I have a sense of
being comfortable with myself.
In conclusion, I agree with Albert Einstein, the most
beautiful thing in life I have experienced is the mysterious. I
would go further than Einstein and say it is the source of all
true things, art, science, love, fun, bravery, heroism,
selflessness and kindness to name a few.
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A
contrast and comparison of Henri Matisse's Nasturtiums
with the Painting "Dance", 1912 and Paul Signac's Women at the Well, Opus 238, 1892
 Henri
Matisse's Nasturtiums with the
Painting "Dance", 1912 and Paul Signac's Women at the Well, Opus 238, 1892 are very similar paintings in
many ways but they do have some distinctions.
Matisse
and Signac use a similar palette of green, yellow, blue, violet, and
orange . The lines they use are very curvaceous. The two artist’s works
relate to each other with similar figures and objects , such as, the
female figures. Signac's well could relate to Matisse’s stand, the water
pitchers are similar in shape to the nasturtium vase, and Matisse crops
off the chair where Signac crops off the sailboat. While each painting is
thoroughly enjoyable in its own right, they are very different.
Signac's
painting is compelling in its brilliance, almost luminescent. It seems to
have a light of its own aided by that wonderful pointillist texture. He
has chosen to do an outdoor scene with very smooth almost mathematical
curves. Signac, although not realistic, is very concerned with perspective
in comparison to Matisse. His work appears to be extremely well thought
out and very carefully executed. In addition, his women are fully clothed,
prim and proper. They are not specifically individuals, but types. They
are unemotional, working-class women, doing their daily chores as women
would be expected to do at that time.
Matisse,
on the other hand, has painted an indoor scene with a painting of an
outdoor scene included. His
curves are not smooth like Signac's but more childlike.
The texture of his paint is very flat. He carefully ignored
perspective as is most evident by the fact that the plant-stand leg
appears to be on the canvas of Dance.
Combine that with the way Matisse cropped the painting, and you
feel as though you are a part of the scene within the scene; you are in
the painting. In other words, the real world and the world of the painting
all come together as one. Matisse's painting seems possibly to be unfinished.
His women are faceless nudes carefree and happily dancing probably
lesbians, very shocking in 1912.
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Reality vs. Illusion: A short comparison of The
Glass Menagerie, The Death of a Salesman, and A Raisin in the Sun.
All three
stories are centered on lower income families in urban settings. Each
story has one main dreamer with other characters being in various states
of reality. Amanda Wingfield, Willy Loman, and Walter Lee Younger are all
living on pipe dreams. Amanda dreams of her days on the front porch
surrounded by her gentleman callers. Willy is the all time king of pipe
dreams bouncing from past to future with imagining how everything would
have been different if he had gone to Alaska (or Africa) with his brother
Ben or will be different when Howard makes him showroom salesman at the
home office or Biff gets ten (fifteen) thousand dollars for his new
business idea. Walter Lee is a smart hard working man but he is so eager
to be financially successful that his common sense is blurred and he
allows con man Willie Harris to take him for the families ten thousand
dollars.
Amanda's reality check comes from another dreamer, her son, Tom who is
totally annoyed by Amanda's nagging and domineering, he thinks that
everything will be better if he can just get away. Amanda and her family
go on living their fantasy lives.
Willy gets it
from all sides; primarily his conflict is with Biff but also Charley,
Howard, and Bernard. He is an average man who truly believes he is better
than those around him, and that his sons, especially Biff, are greater
still, but people, he has very little respect for, are all more successful
than he is. Biff starts out like Willy perhaps but comes to the
realization that being an average man is okay. Willy never comes to that
conclusion; in fact he decides he is more valuable dead than alive.
Walter Lee
probably has the best grasp on reality and the highest hill to climb of
all the dreamers in these stories. This story could probably only take
place in a northern city in the United States at that time. His reality
check comes from Lena Younger, his mother, a highly spiritual woman with a
strong sense of what right and wrong is. Lena has raised Walter Lee to be
a good man but he is eager to find a shortcut out of the ghetto and be
treated with respect. Walter Lee's wife Ruth who is not as powerful as
Lena but a good woman who is not afraid of hard work supports Lena. In the
end Walter Lee sees that there are more important things than money.
All stories
dealing with very real working class family struggles made still more
difficult by the varying Illusions of the different family members. Each
story has come to a different solution. The Glass Menagerie
goes on in illusion. Tom goes off to follow in his father's footsteps.
Laura goes back to her glass and her victrolla. Amanda, I'm sure goes on
being exactly the same. The Death of a Salesman ends in tragedy,
Willy is dead and Hap is going to be just like him. Biff like Walter Lee
does grow up through his conflict. A Raisin in the Sun ends in a
family in victory, they are standing up to prejudice and Walter Lee has
come through to take his place as the head of the family.
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