Advice to a Young Artist

In painting a mountain, one paints oneself as the mountain. The painting is a bridging between the real world and the world of spirit. We are in essence all things, our art makes that connection visible. Trying to be creative or original is very confusing. If it is something new, it is to the degree we reach the truth of the mountain and ourselves: always a new place, a mystery, possessing endless meanings and approaches.

There is no division from us and any of the world we live in, the good or bad, the large or small. This is true of time and space, shadow and light, and ourselves and the God. They are us….we are them, each is important. What we build cannot be separated from any part of life.

The uniqueness of our paths, both as an individual and an artist, is found in trust, in action, in honesty. And, in careful observation of where our feet lead us and where our hands rest.

There is a special line that can only come from each person’s hand, a way of seeing the world coming from the movement of life and of the line in this time. It can be no one else’s. This is often called “style” but it is much more. It is the temper and color of all my days. It is the form of my own song. It is because art comes from a deep well not only within the cultural, but also within the movement toward creation and towards life; that is why humility, trust, and honesty are so important, like a river we float upon them.

Where your hands go, where the light falls, where the shadows make a pattern, they will lead you. Listen to the music. If it comes from the heart it is part of the universe’s song of jubilation.

James T. Hubbell
July 2000

“Love is at the beginning. At the end is trust….and wonder”

 

“Space is the art, the work the door, silence its magic.”