The Spirit that moves artistic endeavor

By Al R. Young

Late one Saturday evening, after a long and intense week of painting, I came across these images while browsing through the Studios' archive. As first one and then another of these pictures filled the screen, I found myself instantly captivated and rejuvenated as I stepped into the miniature worlds inside each frame and found myself surrounded by nameless shapes and infinite hues.

The few minutes I spent looking at these pictures were as restorative as a stroll in the park. Even though I had spent a week rendering such things by means of paint blobs at the end of a brush, I wasn't even loathe to muse upon the techniques and phases by which I would approach the task of painting these images. I knew, of course, I would not paint them, but not because I was tired: I simply had other things to paint, more suited to the kind of visual stories I like to tell.

I never cease to be amazed at the resilience of that Spirit that moves artistic endeavor. It never tires. I do, but it doesn't. Somehow, no matter how many thousands and thousands of brushstrokes will be involved in even the tiniest painting, that Spirit embarks with boundless enthusiasm and remains undaunted. It never flinches at the number and complexities of problems encountered along the way.

No matter how much I plan and prepare, there always comes a point at which that Spirit is ready to begin or re-commence, and, at that point, it does not matter how much or how little I know about what lies ahead: It is simply time to be up and doing, and no other course of action or inaction will suffice. And, like the few minutes I spent lost in wonder with these simple images, that Spirit is also the Spirit that provides beauty everywhere, and is just as much about rest and renewal as it is about striving.

Photograph by Ashton Young

Photograph by Ashton Young

Photograph by Ashton Young