Yes, it seems I have….
by Steven McCabe
Yes, it seems I have interrupted doing my ‘to do’ list of what must be done. Yes, it seems I have started working on a new roll of Italian mid-weight paper using B&W media: both inks and gouache.
The main thing on my ‘to do’ list is the promotion (for purposes of exhibition or sale) of my 2022 work ‘Druidica’ (W35′ X H5′) also on a roll of mid-weight Italian paper. I have discussed this work in these pages: https://poemimage.com/2023/05/01/druidica-blue-deja-vu-cave-art-for-the-new-psyche/
This new B&W work takes me full circle, in a way, to when I was a young, self-taught, beginning artist working with a 01 fine-tip, refillable, Rapidograph pen. I laboured over intricate, intuitive work, often overnight – stippling and scratching away at the tiniest details – dark and surreal, somewhat psychedelic. I have expanded on how I work with B&W since (of course – one does expand). As the Grateful Dead sang, What a long strange trip it’s been…I sold offset prints of my ink drawings door to door to students in university residences and the infamous Rochdale College in Toronto. I still remember encounters from those long-ago days and still have many of those drawings.
It requires a bit of finesse to juggle ink & gouache side by side. You integrate two mediums, in one image, hoping the unique properties of each medium stand out. Each approaches the other: from here or there, keeping its own edge, and relationship with water.
Although I began (Whoosh!) without any plan, this work immediately communicated a specific theme. Two themes actually, I will play them off against each other, intertwining them. One is a ‘reverse metaphor’ of sorts – highlighting an impossiblity.
And the other depicts a figure in mythical folklore (who existed historically). I will abridge her mission, into my overall theme of juxtaposing polarities within a dense, intricate ‘jungle of the psyche.’ I will reassign her, respectfully… Once again the ancient juxtaposes against the ‘now.’
I have not corrected these iphone8 photos, taken under less than ideal conditions. I started to ‘adjust’ them in Photoshop and decided it was too time-consuming. Below we see an example of ‘drawing’ beside ‘painting.’
Just like with my ‘long blue painting’ I am working on the floor.
Often in my poemimage postings I post the first draft of a poem and spend days editing the material. However, what I am saying here is pretty much just ‘black and white’ facts (excuse the pun).
With ink I am both drawing and using a looser, painterly style, with wash, dripping, splattering, and expressiveness, which can be rather unforgiving. The gouache, although paint itself, is used more deliberately, adding depth, and solving problems.
poemimage 
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Thanks Donna!
Steven, your work blows me away. To stand in front of it must be like having a transcendental experience, so much detail, so many ways of ‘seeing’ into, it is a communication of mind and spirit.
Your ‘to do’ list of what must be done, was nowhere on the list of the present now, to listen intuitively to what you know, without knowing, is the unknown path to revelation. I wish you much success with this latest work.
I have seen your previous posts but life here has been a bit overwhelming for me so I haven’t commented, but I couldn’t let this one pass by.
All the very best to you – Teri
Hi Teri, You are very generous in your assessment. Maybe what you bring to the table determines how you see the table. When I look at my own work I see something different every time. I don’t know how the process of having created it (or at least I think I created it) affects seeing it. Thank you for your best wishes and insights about ‘the now’ and ‘revelation.’ This gives me a window to contemplate, as your thoughts always do. I understand the ‘overwhelming’ possibilities and appreciate you taking the time. Thank you!
I think you are right about seeing something different in your work every time you look, and there is so much to see in yours, your creativity expands all around you. I have a couple of paintings that do the same for me, though not as detailed as yours they did come from a way of painting at that time that was not deliberate in its intention but discovering what had come to the surface was revealing.
Your comment about my seeing what I bring to the table is interesting, I wonder if there is another way to ‘see’ the work of others, to get out of the way of oneself, perhaps the way we see is enough.
I appreciate what you bring to the table. Your seeing is insightful. I very much appreciate your insights and generosity. Your words are like a bucket of illumination.
Hi Steven ! This time my laziness in posting a comment is exceeded by my enthusiasm in front of your drawings.
Really, this is what I call an inspired work ! Exploring the inner depths of our core is the most enthralling adventure there is
to live, and on top of that you know how to translate
masterfully these worlds by your magical drawings and arabesques. This I had to say…
Thank you Ronald! Your generosity zaps me and your use of the word ‘core’ really got me thinking. I think you have boiled down purposes of art to a major insight which is, in itself, quite expansive. I’m honoured how you see this work. Now I must
ask myself how often I ‘dress up’ what I’m doing in some ‘reason or purpose’ – or maybe even create a rationale that ‘fits’ – when I would benefit considering the purpose of descent into ‘core.’ I very much appreciate your words and have read it more than once. Thank you!
Yes, Steven, it’s true, I see art as an essential field, because to make something appear in the outside world from our inner world is quite magic. It is a small materialized part of what exists within us, and I can’t help but connect it to an endless seeking of what we are. But on the other hand, I don’t want to sacralize it too much, because it must remain in a joyous playfulness.
Your beautiful creations remind me of the hypnagogic domain,
the one I like to visit between the state of wakefulness and sleep. The dream explorers can, with practice, start scrolling through these flickering symbols and use them as doors to explore other states of consciousness, which reminds me the surrealists at the beginning of the last century, in Paris. How I wish I could time-travel !
Hi Ronald, Sorry for such a tardy reply but I’ve been offline and aiming hours into my project.
Thank you for these thoughts. I appreciate how you express your thoughts on this subject! You have a way of expressing this which feels real & solid. You seem to be tying together mythological and psychological thought (and magic!) with art history.
I can relate to the hypnogogic ‘dream field’ idea.Strangely for me it’s normally the other end of the sleep cycle: the hypnopompic (!) when I am waking. I often wait until I see/ recieve some image before I get out of bed (pertaining to my current project). Though the other day one of those images hit me out of the blue. I tried to add it today and came ‘close’ – at least 50% proximity to what I saw in my mind’s eye.
Your idea about the essential & states of consciousness inspire how *thorough* and attentive one might be in evaluating and developing such thoughts and knowledge.
Time travel to the early 20th century in Paris to witness the Surrealist explorations would be quite an investigation. …………………………
Hi Steven, my turn to be sorry. I did just like you: offline the last days to concentrate on my paintings.
Thanks to you too; I’m so glad we can exchange on this topic.
It doesn’t happen everyday, I can tell you.
Well, as you say, I try to interconnect these different levels, everything that can lead to deeper awareness.
You seem to dive well in the hypnopompic field. We can reach the same results on either end of the sleep cycle, but the advantage with the end is that it allows the best chances of lucid dream possibilities.
Mastering this technique would be a tremendous help for you, even though you seem to be doing well with your recent experience.
Just raising your attention already gave you a nice result, that’s really a good start !
With a dream diary, you would assert your progress, but maybe you already stepped into it ?
Hi Ronald, Thank you for all these compelling thoughts. I just did another disappearing act motoring along on the project and then a few days to revamp my focus. I need a wee bridge (already roughed out) – something about the size of a small country on a map – to set up the next section. Yes to dream journals. I carried on a healthy correspondance with a lovely Jungian for some time. Her feedback was fascinating. I recently moved my box of journals thinking to go over them! At one point I ‘switched over’ from journaling the dream(s) to waiting for a (usually surreal) hypnopompic phrase that would launch unplanned stream-of-consciousness writing throughout the mornings. I typed in the afternoon & ended up with quite a long first draft for a novel. I should probably turn the whole thing into a long poem.The elusive novel needs a visit soon. Maybe the poem idea would eliminate and illuminate dross. I hope your paintings are going well and doing what you wish them to do. Are you fond of Yves Tanguey? His seashores seem quite dreamlike. Found a book on surrealism a friend loaned me years ago (!) and noticed a section on dreams & Breton. Will investigate!
Hi Steven,
I did another disappearing act as well, and I had to go see an old and sick uncle in the city of Lyon, France,
where I spent a few days (BTW I think I’ll post a drawing of Lyon, this week)
Anyway, you did well to put a few likes on my site as a reminder. Where were we ? You impress me with your
diving into the world of dreams, becoming more and more creative. And now a novel or a long poem ?!
You seem to be unstoppable. Bravo ! Needless to say, I’m anxious to see and read the outcome of all this !
My paintings are progressing at a good pace, but I have a dilemma, as always. How to translate my experiences
of the dream world ? I could try and catch the hypnopompic symbols carried by the wind of dreams, just like you,
which I did, long ago. Instead, I now draw and paint visions that look like reality, but could evoke and trigger visions
of the beyond, like the surrealists did. And sometimes I’m caught in the aesthetic appeal, with a search of color
combinations; but after all, I don’t want to censor it, it’s still part of my universe, more or less tangible…
So, what about Tanguy ? Yes, I like his dreamscapes, I saw several of his original paintings in Paris, with real paint, real colors and brushstrokes, so much better than reproductions, of course. And there’s a bunch of other painters I’m very fond of, like Victor Brauner, Max Ernst (maybe sometimes a bit too intellectual), his wife Leonora Carrington, and few others.
There is much to investigate indeed…
Hi Ronald, I’m getting online today after some time away. Not always being ‘productive.’ Though I have did arrange the sketches and ideas (about what’s next) in order to go forward. I hope your visit to your uncle brought good cheer to him. I’m sorry he is sick and wish for the best. I’ll check your site to see if you posted that drawing of Lyon. The novel I mentioned has been sitting for over a year. I applied for a number of literature grants to arts councils to complete editing this work but a giant, neon NYET! appeared overhead repeatedly. So it goes… I’m sure the way you have decided to approach your painting series will be the right one and I look forward to seeing the painted dreams and symbols and scenarios. Your drawings on WordPress are realistic yet many carry a glimmer of the unreal. Technically strong drawings (in realism i cannot accomplish) and the mystery feeling to them must come from your dream world and the part of your mind in that world. I look forward to seeing this work one day. We do have to work out strategies. Sometimes it takes time and a bit of distance from the work. Of course other times it’s a blinding flash. You are fortunate to have seen Tanguy’s works in person. I think I have seen one. The painters from before have such tactile emotion in what they do.
Hi Steven, like you, I’m offline quite often these days.
For my uncle, unfortunately he is not getting better and he is entering
a retirement home with medical care. It’s sad, but I hope at least he will lead a peaceful end of life. Thank you for your thoughts.
For your novel project, you are right, you should not rush, even if it is not always easy to control our impatience.
Thank you also for trusting my pictorial choices! This is actually a real headache for me.
As you say, we have to work on our strategies. It’s true, the scenes I placed in WP are realistic, and I hesitated for a long time on the choice between images totally out of this world, or more discreet symbols, which would act more as a trigger for the public to dream or imagine. In the first
case, I would have very little public interest (and this is another important question, do we still want have an audience, or do we more or less choose to lock ourselves alone in our visions?) Or should I pick up a more usual representation of the world of fantasy ? But that’s not what I want either.
So, I chose the 2nd solution instead. Is this a bad compromise? When I have doubts, I tell myself that after all, if I made this choice and no other, it is because it really represents who I am at this moment, which allows me to move forward without too much torment.
I’d still have much to say, but I’m going to stop there for today !
I’m sorry about your uncle Ronald. This is a tough situation. I’m trying to track down a long-time friend who has fallen (uncharacteristically) into silence. People with no family can slip through the cracks. Your uncle is fortunate to have you and family.
I relate to the process you are going through with choices in your art.
The various perspectives we see ourselves from & in. And how we see and struggle to shape our creative ‘pulse.’ It’s not an easy decision to make. Sometimes I plan, then forget the planning, and just ‘do.’ I keep a file of images to refer to and forget I have them. Does the work suffer or benefit from being spontaneous. I just don’t know.
Somebody stood me on my head recently with a simple reply. Sort of a ‘stand me on my head’ reply. When she did that the floodgates (inside me) opened. It’s a joy to have such a thing to worry about and work out. Sort of a ‘dark joy’ perhaps.
I enjoy reading about your decision making process and the terms you use in thinking about your art. They could be titles of chapters and I’m sure they are. Best wishes from here for now!
Thanks again for my uncle, Steven. As you say, at least, he’s not slipping through the cracks, like some others less fortunate.
The « dark joy » you mention is a part of the creation process I’m familiar with. Sometimes a tiny speck from outside can give a little push in the right direction. Spontaneity is relative, like everything. Sometimes we think we are spontaneous but it’s been maturing for a long time in a corner of our head.
On second thought, the dilemma I was talking about is also quite relative. What choices are the good ones, if we want to share our visions? If we refer to the world of dreams, we can choose, like you, the psychopompic stream, which is a very good one, but there are many levels of dreams, and juste before those impossible to describe in any way, we can play with appearances of reality, shimmering with different meanings. From that point, it’s up to the viewer to interpret it according to his « blueprint ». Another thing; there are days when I see the everyday reality as strange and full of hidden messages. After all, we are all coming from and going to the unknown.
BTW, I hope I didn’t bother you by saying you could exhibit at the art brut museum. For me, this is a great reference.
Hi Ronald, Thank you for the Art Brut museum suggestion. It’s a fine idea. I remember years ago subscribing to Raw Vision magazine. Or maybe I bought it at the magazine store. Much of the work had a lonely yearning wrapped up in some almost-crazed mystic-vision. More connected to life than much of the ‘art world.’ I related to much of it.
And yet, like the self-taught, idiosyncratic Rousseau I would probably prefer to see myself not as an ‘outsider’ artist but as a leading light of the intelligensia – 🙂 / & in the vanguard of art history. Ha! Those assumptions do give weight to a lot of ‘dry ice’ steam. 🙂
I enjoy reading your thoughts on inspiration and facilitating inspiration. It sounds like a play on words to say ‘this in itself is inspiring’ but it’s true. And very poetic. Thank you much. I think your words in these exchanges are worth revisiting. There is a lot you have said about ‘dream’ to contemplate regarding imagination and art.
& I look forward to one day seeing what you are in the midst of creating. As you say: ‘…we can play with appearances of reality, shimmering with different meanings.’
I find myself (a very late learner) developing working strategies that incorporate imagining & art-making experience with the hypnopompic (delivered) image. Another tool in the toolbox. What comes first, the apple seed or the apple. And as always there is a voice beyond one’s own breathing into the work.