Art As Evolution

There is so much beauty in Asian art.
Whether it’s painting, sculpture, or writing, 
I love the style, the reliance on nature in the subject matter, and the poetry of its meaning.

Last month, I had the pleasure of viewing an installation at The Bowers Museum in Orange County, California. For years, I’ve known about the story of the Terracotta Warriors.

An enormous artistic undertaking.

Qin Shi Huang, China’s “First Emperor,” was known for commissioning the famous army of terracotta warriors created to guard his tomb. There were 7,500 life-sized statues. Each is inscribed with its maker’s name. All were unearthed from underground as they stood in rows along with chariots and horses.

Historians estimate that the project took forty years to complete, followed by an excavation that lasted another thirty years, centuries later. Upon seeing it as a whole,

what a story it tells.

Take a look below at a small sample from the thousands of faces created for each warrior.
They are each different. 

When I saw this comparison, I stared at it for a long time.
Notice the distinctiveness of each.
They reminded me of my obsession with drawing and painting faces.
Sometimes I keep working with them simply because it’s what I love to paint.

With a vision from the Emperor, artisans still needed to figure out how to bring this idea to a final solution.
Large-scale projects require adjustments along the way. 

The project evolved.

Women are known to be good at seeing the big picture.
That picture can be overwhelming, and may look different than what was imagined originally, but each completed phase leads to the final solution.

These examples below illustrate a body of work. 

A group of paintings reveal a theme, 
a series of novels demonstrate a particular philosophy, 
a method for teaching leads to a healing modality, 
or painting your favorite lily repeatedly with tiny brush strokes until it says what you need to know. 

As artists, we accumulate different accomplishments through our creative practice. Some are clear, and some don’t make sense. Some elements within them will change, morph, and bend to the final artistic statement as they begin to relate to each other. Some parts you may not like, while others you love. 

And that’s where the story comes alive. 

The inspiration, the idea, and the challenge are vital parts of the story. They open choices.
They bring new direction.
In the end, 

all the paths chosen will converge and transform into the most essential part of the story.

You can create, we can create the life we want, at any age, with a body of work. A consistent process will take you where you need to go. The size isn’t the goal; it’s the small daily steps taken toward a creative goal that get it to evolve. Choose to begin today with things you love, even the small things. 

It doesn’t all need to make sense at first. 

Creating is an ongoing evolution. 

May the light of the Moon illuminate your life.
May the light of the Moon illuminate the wisdom within you.
And remember, if things don’t work out as expected, 
there is information on the side we don’t see tonight, that carries unknown information. ©cwg

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