the ability to move humankind

No Wind, the Art of Painting

The idea of the Eternal Divine nature in and of art has been expressed by artists throughout history and earth’s vastly different cultures. The idea of the artist as an instrument of the Divine is the very subject and conflict of many artists when attempting to express the process of their work.

In inspired art there is a sense of oneness that echoes the artists' spiritual union with the Light of the Divine and is that which produces sublime art. This art can be described as the product flowing through emptiness or stillness that enables the artist to work without thinking, contriving or planning and it is the Eternal Divine which allows the painting to evolve or become known.

Fine art has a power to express the refinement of the human soul and the ability to move humankind with its infinitely different ideals and understandings with subtle, spiritual qualities that often appear to escape definition.

Despite this elusive and subjective nature of art, a masterful work is immediately recognized; having a capability and power to appeal to innate senses, including the sense of “being”.

This quality and connection between art and spirituality is referred to as "Yugen" or "Void" in Japanese culture. Some refer to the art as being true to the Japanese mind and spirit, which is called, "Wakon Yosai".

The arts are said to have limitless depth, feeling or meaning if they demonstrate Yugen. Zen Monks believe Yugen only appears in the work of artists who have experienced the state of 'zero' in which one is said to experience absolute reality.

Art which expresses such sublime beauty through direct experience of the divine is called "Zenga", and is appreciated far more than artwork created by artists of technical skill. It is the artist’s contact with the eternal or absolute divine which the Zen schools see as enabling artists to illustrate this subtle quality.

In Buddhism, nirvana or “no wind” is the similar state where the artist is a vessel of what is to be, this subtle quality of absolute reality or the absolute unconscious which “creates” the art.
In this state, the artist creates that which transcends cultural borders and speaks in a universal language, to the observer, through insightful conscious and unconscious integration and innate recognition.

The idea that God speaks through dreams and visions is clearly associated and recorded in countless scriptures and holy writings of many cultures including the countless indigenous tribes of the United States, South America, Africa and Australia. In many religions including; Christianity, Muslim, Judaism and Buddhism, enlightened ones, prophets and messiahs are described as those illustrators and teachers that guide those who cannot see (healing the blind) to see, enabling them to move closer toward the Light of the Divine.

It is the universally accepted concept that the role of the Eternal Divine Light is the force of humankind’s collective awareness and the true source of creativity and the motivation of every
inspired work.

In our society there is unfortunately a great deal of wind. It is up to each artist to quiet the wind, to still the heart and bring the true source of creativity into their work.

Deborah Russell, © 2006

Image: Ghost Dancer, D Russell, 06
11x14", oil

One book I suggest is "The Natural Way to Draw: A Working Plan for Art Study" by K.Nicolaidas, 1941 - Boston,MA: Houghton Mifflin. This was a valuable resource for my studies and provided a common sense approach to teaching art and in my development of instructional materials  in the early 80's.