The Parachute Principle

Greetings! Yesterday, photographer and digital artist Nikolay Semyonov of Rostov-na-Donu, South Russia wrote, "There are times my eye virtually stops seeing things that might make me press the shutter. This usually happens when I stay too long in the same place or at the end of a long session. My mind seems to get stuck. A period may last quite a long time. Whenever I feel it coming on, I try concentrating on details like webs, spots, stains, twigs, cracks, sunlight patterns, textures, etc. This primes my imagination. With patience, my mind gets activated by human figures, landscapes and other bright things. Do you or your readers know of any other systems?" Thanks, Nikolay. I'm sure the Brotherhood and Sisterhood will be forthcoming with further systems. I'm in tune with yours--what I call "macro-looking" to refresh the eye when among overly-familiar or tired subject matter. Here's another similar subterfuge I call "The Parachute Principle." I figured it out a few years ago when arriving for the first time in Brittany. I had flown Vancouver/London, London /Paris and Paris/Brest. After sixteen hours mostly buried in my laptop, I "parachuted" into an unfamiliar environment. Like a kid on his first visit to Disneyland, the taxi ride to the hotel was a revelation. Apart from the landscape and architecture, the passing humanity, their curious dress-code, their wide-set eyes and physical dispositions, even the way they looked at me was unusual. The cars--Citroens, Renaults, Peugeots--moving quietly on the pristine lanes were from another planet. In those days I was still smoking, and the airport-bought cigar strangely puffed French smoke toward the oddly-shaped head of my Breton driver. I lit and relit that cigar with alien matches. Why, I wondered, could I not always have this same visual innocence? I discovered "visual innocence" to be a learnable art. One needs to secretly and privately cultivate the self-delusion of surprise and even dismay. Natural to some, many simply lose it along the way. To renew and refresh, you need to focus on the payoff and regularly give yourself a small mental reboot. With self-management and repetition, even the painting you struggled with on Thursday is simply and effectively brand new on Friday. Best regards,    Robert PS: "No inspiration comes from nowhere. No invention is based on nothing. You always need to be tuned up and be ready to start receiving the energy you look for." (Nikolay Semyonov) Esoterica: The Parachute Principle is made palpable on our heli-painting drops. Arriving at high altitudes, we painters exit the craft and huddle together, shielding our eyes against the swirling detritus under the whirling blades. The craft lifts off and away and in 30 seconds is neither seen nor heard. We open our eyes to a silent miracle, a magical diorama not previously seen. The rocks, tarns, patches of snow, the very peaks at our feet and far away are somehow ours and we possess for the first time their beguiling designs. Hastily setting up our easels as if to devour this newness and novelty, we find ourselves asking why all of life cannot be simply and forever like this? Current Clickback: "Potholes on the mesolimbic pathway"looks at how we feel in the making and giving of our art. Also included are images of Nikolay Semyonov's work. Your comments will be appreciated. Read this letter online and tell us how you might refresh your eye to the magic. Live comments are welcome. Direct, illustratable comments can be made at rgenn@saraphina.com The Art Show Calendar: If you or your group has a show coming up, put an illustrated announcement on The Painter's Keys site. The longer it's up, the more people will see it. Your announcement will be shown until the last day of your show. The Workshop Calendar: Here is a selection of workshops and seminars laid out in chronological order that will stimulate, teach, mentor, take you to foreign lands or just down the street. Many of these workshops are recommended by Robert and friends. Incidentally, if you are planning a workshop and have photos of happy people working, feel free to send them to us and we'll include a selection in the workshops feature at no extra charge. The Painter's Post: Every day new material is going into this feature. Links to art info, ideas, inspiration and all kinds of creative fun can be found in this online arts aggregator. If a friend is trying to subscribe to the Twice-Weekly Letter via Constant Contact, please let her or him know that confirmation is required and to reply to Constant Contact's confirmation email. You can also follow Robert's valuable insights and see further feedback on Facebook and Twitter Nikolay Semyonov is at nas828@gmail.com  Featured Responses: Alternative to the instant Live Comments, Featured Responses are illustrated and edited for content. If you would like to submit your own for possible inclusion, please do so. Just click 'reply' on this letter or write to rgenn@saraphina.com Yes, please go ahead and forward this letter to a friend. This does not mean that they will automatically be subscribed to the Twice-Weekly Letter. They have to do it voluntarily and can find out about it by going to The Painter's Keys website. Subscribe Free! Your name and email address will be kept safe. To Unsubscribe or Change Your Email Address, please click Safe Unsubscribe or Update Profile/Email Address links found at the bottom of this email. (c) Copyright 2012 Robert Genn. If you wish to copy this material to other publications or mail lists, please ask for permission by writingrgenn@saraphina.com. Thanks for your friendship.

Potholes on the mesolimbic pathway April 24, 2012 Greetings! My last letter about getting euphoria from painting raised a few issues. Some folks were positively giddy reporting on the giddy positiveness they got from making art. Others told us the "pleasure centres" of their brains were too clogged with painterly problems to get much joy from the act. There were other acts that excited them more, they said, like eating, smoking, skydiving and you know what. One said his "mesolimbic pathway" didn't go through the art field. Just to put us all on the same trail, the mesolimbic pathway is one of the dopaminergic routes in the brain. The pathway begins in the ventral tegmental area of the midbrain and connects to the limbic system via the nucleus accumbens, the amygdala, and the hippocampus. Now you know. It's all about what causes us to get our kicks and how those kicks get passed around. Some subscribers pointed to the "add-ons" like "quietness in a noisy world" and "the happiness we give to others." Several mentioned the making of art as a branch of giving, an area that's fascinated me for some time. Knowing that a certain work is going to a worthwhile charity as a fundraiser turns my tiny crank. Subscriber Gerda Hook of Greenville, South Carolina reported on altruism studies by the US National Institute of Health. "Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology," she wrote, "researchers gave 19 subjects real money ($128) and asked them to make choices about keeping or spending the money. They were given 64 popular charities to choose from. When they performed the act of giving, two areas of their brains, the mesolimbic and the subgenual, lit up. The mesolimbic is associated with the release of dopamine, a 'feel-good' chemical linked with life-affirming activities like reproduction and eating. The subgenual part of the brain is implicated in behavior involving social relationships and familial attachments--for example, this area is activated when we look at our babies and at romantic partners." What's interesting in these findings is that both centres play key roles in the evolution of the human race (procreation and family bonds) as well as the daily sustenance of the species. Giving not only feels good, but is also associated with the survival of our species. Best regards,    Robert PS: "The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose." (Heda Bejar) "Man is never so happy as when he giveth happiness unto another." (Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton) Esoterica: Catharine Compston of Edmonton, Alberta pointed out that a finished work of art as it marches out into the universe transforms from the pleasure of the artist to the pleasure of others. This thought alone might be the stuff of happiness and high excitement, she figures. At the same time, a few folks wrote of the fear that their art might be substandard and not give pleasure. Along with our "feel good" brains, we of the Brotherhood and Sisterhood are subject to nagging negative thoughts, maybe even neuroses. How do you feel? Current Clickback: "Painter's high" looks at euphoric painting episodes. Your comments will be appreciated. Read this letter online and tell us what pleasures you experience in the making and giving of your art. Live comments are welcome. Direct, illustratable comments can be made at rgenn@saraphina.com The Art Show Calendar: If you or your group has a show coming up, put an illustrated announcement on The Painter's Keys site. The longer it's up, the more people will see it. Your announcement will be shown until the last day of your show. The Workshop Calendar: Here is a selection of workshops and seminars laid out in chronological order that will stimulate, teach, mentor, take you to foreign lands or just down the street. Many of these workshops are recommended by Robert and friends. Incidentally, if you are planning a workshop and have photos of happy people working, feel free to send them to us and we'll include a selection in the workshops feature at no extra charge. The Painter's Post: Every day new material is going into this feature. Links to art info, ideas, inspiration and all kinds of creative fun can be found in this online arts aggregator. If a friend is trying to subscribe to the Twice-Weekly Letter via Constant Contact, please let her or him know that confirmation is required and to reply to Constant Contact's confirmation email. You can also follow Robert's valuable insights and see further feedback on Facebook and Twitter Featured Responses: Alternative to the instant Live Comments, Featured Responses are illustrated and edited for content. If you would like to submit your own for possible inclusion, please do so. Just click 'reply' on this letter or write to rgenn@saraphina.com Yes, please go ahead and forward this letter to a friend. This does not mean that they will automatically be subscribed to the Twice-Weekly Letter. They have to do it voluntarily and can find out about it by going to The Painter's Keys website. Subscribe Free! Your name and email address will be kept safe. To Unsubscribe or Change Your Email Address, please click Safe Unsubscribe or Update Profile/Email Address links found at the bottom of this email. (c) Copyright 2012 Robert Genn. If you wish to copy this material to other publications or mail lists, please ask for permission by writingrgenn@saraphina.com. Thanks for your friendship.