Call me old-fashioned, but set me on a way forward that honours art, life, and beauty and I believe we’d do a lot to improve the human spirit.
As a means of overcoming pressures, traumatic personal experiences or simply to fulfil that need to make, the road to becoming a full-time creative is one riddled with endless questioning as a means of ‘finding’ oneself, of uncovering and being honest about our feelings, but best of all, of enabling us to explore our dreams.
And in order to exist in harmony with our world, and to quieten that sometimes endless noise of our existence – I can think of no better way than to give our artistry the air it needs to breathe new life into it.
That’s basically what the impact of the Renaissance was – a way of reviving and surpassing ideas and achievements, transitioning from the Middle Ages into a so-called modern world.
Now we have innumerable opportunities to express ourselves and to infuse our lives with creativity.
We finally made it to the last day of the Matisse Life and Spirit exhibition featuring masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou, Paris.
Matisse’s search for ‘lightness and joyousness’, was characterised by his constant self-questioning, and tireless work – said to have given him moments of ‘rupture and regeneration’.
And that’s what a Renaissance is – a regeneration, a revival – a renewal.
I came away from that exhibition with a renewed energy – partially inspired by Matisse’s work, but also by a book I couldn’t resist buying from the Gallery shop, featuring the work of Australian artist, Criss Canning, aptly titled ‘Criss Canning: The Pursuit of Beauty’, the updated edition published by Thames and Hudson, Australia in 2020.
Having not heard of Criss before, I was excited to explore her work and took great pleasure and inspiration from her use of colour, pattern, and form.
But the thing is, it’s given me the idea for a whole new body of work – so perhaps this is my Renaissance – all from a book and an exhibition, both of which lifted my spirits, encouraged my dreams, and fed my heart and soul.
Are you ready for your Renaissance?
