Reflections on art and leadership

I use my art to reflect an artist and a senior manager in the financial services industry. I notice that the deeper I understand myself the more I succeed to impact others; in both art and work.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Images frozen on paper - process of creating a modern art work

Recently when selling a painting I was asked to write about the process of making that series of paintings. So, below you find the process of making the 'Subconscious power' series.


I go out with my papers, paint, brushes and bottles
to a river or sometimes to the sea.
When arriving I put down my materials,
I breathe the air,
I absorb the lively place around me,
its colors, the light in the sky.
I let the papers float in the river, to absorb the water and absorb nature.

Every river or sea has its own way of working with the painted colors, sometimes giving beautiful shades and sometimes a more rusty texture.
It is the soul of the water showing itself
through the way it works, leaving its pigment traces on the paper.
Then before starting I connect with the trees, the sand, the birds...
There are many ways to draw a portrait, a landscape, a tree.
One way to draw a tree is by copying the shapes, the lines, the colors.
It will become a nice copy.
Myself I let the tree show itself in me
and through me,
concentrating on breathing,
on connecting to the earth,
I let the tree flow into my body and show itself.
Then I dive into this feeling
I get the paper from the river and start painting.
The colors spread over the paper, mixing and fading
I keep sculpting the shapes until the moment that I awake from this dream.

In a way I try to create the right conditions, to get myself in a sort of flow.
It is like in dreams, where rational filters disappear
and images that have been suppressed show themselves.
These images are touching the heart of me,
and later when I am back in my atelier they help me
to easily recreate the original feeling with all its depth and emotions.
There I continue building the details
as in a flow or meditational repetition;
it creates and creates without 'thinking'
and I trust the intensity of this feeling
until I wake up for the last time
and a very rich painting appears,
clearly showing harmony despite the numerous detailed patterns it holds.
It is like awaking from a dream and seeing the images frozen on a piece of paper.

If you would like to read more about the background of my concepts just visit my art page section about concepts or just send me a mail.

2 comments:

  1. I like the poetic style. It adds both power and elegance to your commentary as an artist. How could this approach be applied to my work as a mentor to business managers? It seems to me that the preparation of the observed medium, the paper, by saturating it in the fundamental element, the water is a lot like ensuring that the whole process is grounded in the organisational culture that the manager has to work within. Whether the environment will be salty, rusty, sparkling or stagnant will affect the possibilities that can be imagined - and then shared. The run of the paint, the colour choices, the brush selection, the use of ink become the elements, decisions, innovations that can be highlighted as they flow from that original immersion. The result may not be intentionally poetic but the elements are there to be discovered if one can only manage their development.

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  2. One of the results of Maurice's activties/inspirations is now part of our livingroom. Every time we see and experience new elements, moods and impressions.

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