Cart
0
Creativity often emerges when we slow down and take the time to observe the world around us. During a quiet weekend by the lake, artist Claudia Pollack experienced a moment of reflection that gave rise to new artistic ideas, paintings, and concepts for abstract art.
A Weekend of Silence by the Lake
Slowness and tranquility are an important foundation for artistic work
I’m lying in the alcove. Taking a nap. I rarely do this. Never, you might say. Outside, the wind is blowing fiercely under bright sunshine. We’ve been here at the lake with the motorhome for the second weekend in a row. The door opens onto a wide meadow, with the forest beyond. It’s not very busy here this weekend. All around our motorhome, as far as the eye can see, nothing but grass and hedges.
We spend the time when the sun is at its highest indoors. After my decaf coffee and some chocolate, I lay down up here, curled up a bit—cozy. I listen to the wind and to David reading aloud from the book “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” Giggles. In between, there’s a rustling sound; the stove is turned on, cocoa is being made. I love how the little details of these sounds give me a cozy and comforting feeling. So much peace here.
When new artistic ideas come to mind
And my mind wanders off. Images emerge within me. I actually feel like making a fabric flower. I think about the workshop I want to hold. Should I explain again why I want to make flowers with the women now? Next, I see images before me. Images, shapes, colors, how one grows out of the other. Hands. Hands? Where do they come from? Where do the fingers flow? I also see jewelry designs I want to invent. I feel how everything I believe in comes together. In between, the thought that I really have to stay in this life for at least 100 years to satisfy all my artistic desires.
In my mind, I construct the individual parts of the jewelry, knowing exactly how to make it, while my body remains completely still. Then the images of the paintings return. From shapes, colors, and symbolic imagery, new ideas for contemporary paintings and abstract artworks emerge, and it becomes clear to me: something new is about to come.
New perspectives in life are often accompanied by new artistic ideas
I sense a slight feeling of resistance stemming from the idea that I must leave the “other” behind. And I mentally slap my forehead. How quickly such convictions arise and presume to dictate the rules. The next thought: Of course I can do everything at the same time. It’s not an either/or situation.
“The new” carries a sense of lightness and humor, even irony and paradox. At the same time, I sense a certain eroticism and sensuality in it. For a while now, I’ve been carrying the following sentence within me: “Everything’s so serious.” Strangely enough, it feels more genuine to me in English. I understand it both literally and in the reversal of its meaning, because I now sense that everything is very serious and, at the same moment, absolutely nothing is to be taken seriously. And as I lie there, half-asleep, I can watch as the paradox allows shoots to grow. A garden of wondrous shapes in colors, ceaseless and utterly alive. And I sense that this will be my way of opening up a new perspective. A perspective I simply feel like embracing, one I’ve been carrying within me for some time and that now wants to be born into my world—the paradox. It is time.
“Permission” Is a Magic Word – A Conclusion
I, Claudia Pollack, spend a great deal of time observing the world around me—the details, the moods, and even my unfinished paintings. It is precisely these moments, minutes, or hours that make all the difference in the development of my contemporary paintings.
Creativity is not something that can be forced. Whether in painting, mixed-media art, or jewelry design—it often comes to us precisely when we give ourselves the freedom to do nothing and want nothing. When we listen to our inner selves, observe, and trust the creative process that is always at work within us anyway.
Recent Post
