"Forever we will search and give our thought to the picture we have in our mind.
We are walking around now as sad as can be.
The nature of our looking.”
Gilbert and George, The Nature of Our Looking, 1970
I started this blog after being in a painting workshop run by my friend and colleague Elaine, a brilliant watercolour painter and also a speech and language therapist and fellow mediator. She taught us that painting is about two-thirds looking, and one-third doing. Look, really look…and try not to paint what your brain thinks it sees. A chair is a chair, right? Your brain tells you it has four (or maybe three) legs, a seat, maybe a back and arms. But forget all that and just look at the damn thing, and draw what your eyes see, not what your brain sees. Be a good looker and you will learn to paint.
She didn’t actually say all that – I’ve elaborated and embellished, and I hope she’ll forgive me. But what she said resonates with me in so many ways. As a mediator – my vocation for 25 years – I’ve been trained in active listening, hearing people’s stories attentively, indicating without words that I’m paying attention. Interestingly, active listening is about taking in information un-mediated by our own assumptions, beliefs, stereotypes. It’s exhausting but energising at the same time. I think active looking feels the same way. And it takes some practice.
To mix my metaphors, it’s a bit like what’s said about muscles, and brains – use ‘em or lose ‘em. Your creative bone needs to be stimulated, nudged, maybe even poked and prodded. That sometimes feels like too much hard work. I hope this blog will make it easier.
First step - consider the nature of your looking. Don't ask someone else, How do I look? Ask yourself.
We are walking around now as sad as can be.
The nature of our looking.”
Gilbert and George, The Nature of Our Looking, 1970
I started this blog after being in a painting workshop run by my friend and colleague Elaine, a brilliant watercolour painter and also a speech and language therapist and fellow mediator. She taught us that painting is about two-thirds looking, and one-third doing. Look, really look…and try not to paint what your brain thinks it sees. A chair is a chair, right? Your brain tells you it has four (or maybe three) legs, a seat, maybe a back and arms. But forget all that and just look at the damn thing, and draw what your eyes see, not what your brain sees. Be a good looker and you will learn to paint.
She didn’t actually say all that – I’ve elaborated and embellished, and I hope she’ll forgive me. But what she said resonates with me in so many ways. As a mediator – my vocation for 25 years – I’ve been trained in active listening, hearing people’s stories attentively, indicating without words that I’m paying attention. Interestingly, active listening is about taking in information un-mediated by our own assumptions, beliefs, stereotypes. It’s exhausting but energising at the same time. I think active looking feels the same way. And it takes some practice.
To mix my metaphors, it’s a bit like what’s said about muscles, and brains – use ‘em or lose ‘em. Your creative bone needs to be stimulated, nudged, maybe even poked and prodded. That sometimes feels like too much hard work. I hope this blog will make it easier.
First step - consider the nature of your looking. Don't ask someone else, How do I look? Ask yourself.
RSS Feed
