Art from the Gallbladder

I've been attending Paul Doughty's Abstract Drawing course at the Bermuda Society of Arts.  I like it.  A lot.  The comfort levels of the members of the group vary - I suspect largely due to our respective experiences with graphical experimentation in a group setting.

Whether you are an individual who has always identified yourself as an artist, or one who felt that itch to create later in life, the identified benefits of taking an adult education course range from gaining new skills, engaging with others, and reducing stress levels to even expanding one's brain.

There are any number of courses that promise to deliver technical knowledge and this is no exception.  A lot of us have forgotten or never mastered the creative utility of simple media like charcoal, newsprint and pencil.

But abstract drawing breeds consideration of expression through non-representational marks upon a two dimensional plane.   Personally, I find it much more challenging than the 'pears on a plate' style

Trio of Pears, 2001

that gave me some early encouragement.  Apparently, this road of discovery is all good - keep on learning and evolving if you are going to consider yourself an artist.  Create art from your heart.

Now, my friends know that I am not always a patient or sympathetic person - some would use a word sort of like byatch.  Pinning a heart on my sleeve is not my style.  In truth, I went along to this course with the secondary objective of unblocking my painting muse.  That's the ticket, I thought - you must genuinely express what you feel.  Regrettably, optimism and warmth were not the feelings I conjured.

First, I thought about the challenges of facilitating courses for adults.  Small children will happily experiment with paint, markers, crayons and playdough with no real objectives other than the activity itself and soliciting some encouraging noises from their teachers and parents.  They haven't learned that borrowing ideas is bad or that you should colour within the lines.  Many will soon learn that decorating interior walls and furniture probably isn't a good idea.  And eventually they will become socialized and most will be cognizant of the opinions and relative talents of their peers.

Which is the challenge in teaching adults.  Much of my corollary experience is in implementing new procedures and systems in businesses.  Aside from teaching mature dogs new tricks, you must be vigilant that people don't revert to their old comfortable ways, and also try to overcome some very real fears of displacement or redundancy.

Then, I thought about the challenges of redeploying the large mature slice of the un/under-employed workforce in Bermuda.  That proved to be a bit painful since it elicits empathy.  Martha Myron has described the situation succinctly in her recent columns so I won't.  But I am sceptical about the relevance of Minister Fahy's retread of training plans to the middle-aged, middle-class, stressed people who thought their degrees and certifications and investments were enough to pay the mortgage, insurance and taxes and educate their children, with a little something left for their older years.  Frankly, we are scared sh*tless whether over-worked, unemployed or running marginal businesses on intermittent trickles of cash-flow.

28 years of living in a country where the only river is 'De Nial' has taught me to divert my attention when worry threatens to send me to my prescribing physician seeking relief.  Hah!  Turn to overseas news and you really have an avalanche of macro woes.  The undeclared war in Ukraine could be Poland in 1939 or Serbia and Belgium in 1914.  What about the latest savage killings and kidnappings across Africa - in the twisted connection of fundamentalist teachings that are sweeping around the world?  Or the Syrian government bombing and gassing their own people! 

If war just makes you angry too, then you can turn to environmental concerns ranging from the global list to the 'greaseballs' on Grape Bay.  And what about the Malaysians who are systematically killing off the alpha predators - sharks - to make shark fin soup.  Did this cultural mentality or that of their neighbours allow them to shoot down a plane full of civilians accidentally on purpose and then obfuscate and point to the depths of the Roaring Forties?

Ricochet back to the Western world and you may wonder whether discontinuing the use of pesticides on your roses or buying an electric car can really make a dent against the vast clouds of pollution belching from the Asian tiger economies that supply us with cheap solutions to indulge our conspicuous consumption.  And then read the statistic in the Bermuda Sun where the World Bank says Bermuda leads the world on this one.  Do you feel sad, impotent, discouraged?  Not so long ago, we were proud of our expensive and self-indulgent standard of living.

Why It Matters - in Bermuda you can soon be wheeled over bricks engraved with your name through an air-conditioned glass atrium into a new 'state of the art' acute care hospital facility if your body succumbs before your bank account.  I don't think there are similar construction plans for MAWI.  If you go nuts, you probably won't notice the tatty linoleum or lack of privacy.

Spectre, 2014

Since I can offer no practical solutions or plans to change the path of what, on a bad day, looks like a man-made tsunami of horrors, I'm applying the balm of artistic expression.

Even if no one thinks it is art.  And it comes from my gallbladder or spleen rather than the heart.

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