Judy Bruce
When I read this article in the New York Times by David Marchese several months ago as I was preparing to write my “You Gotta Have Art” columns, I was blown away. Joyce Carol Oates, an author I admire, stated that even though she had many discussions with her husband, a professor, about books all the time, talking and talking for years, she didn’t remember the dialogue. She doesn’t remember the students she taught and loved. All she has left of all of that happiness is her writing. She feels that that is a profound but rather depressing fact. Everything you think is solid is actually fleeting and ephemeral. The only thing quasi-permanent would be a book or a work of art. Anything you create, she says, that transcends time is in some ways more real than the actual reality of your life.
Wow, as we age and think of our legacies, this is a powerful notion. If you set your hand on fire now, it is ephemeral. It would hurt, but Plato says it is not as real as something that transcends time, like art.
Oates states that the close at hand so often seduces us. Maybe we do not have the courage, predilection, or discipline to say, “I’m not going out, I am not going to waste my time on Facebook, I am going to have five hours to work on my book or artwork. If you did that daily, you would have a novel or painting. Many people say, “I am going to pet my dog or play with the grandchildren.”
There are many reasons people do not do art. Then, the day is gone, the kids leave, the marriage breaks up, or somebody dies, and you are sort of there—”I don’t have anything!” But, if you’ve read Ovid’s Metamorphosis, he writes, “If you’re reading this, I am immortal.” The masters Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Monet, and others have left glorious art. Music, dance, and all of the arts provide immortality to their makers. The same theme is found in Shakespeare’s sonnets. You are reading this, so I am still alive. They are gone but have an extra dimension in their lives—ART! That is not nothing!
Everyday people, many of us retired, single, alone, can still find meaning, purpose, and possibly a bit of immortality by creating art.
The Sonoran Arts Studio is just the place to start your journey towards immortality! Or, for your viewing pleasure and to spark ideas, visit the League Gallery and the Desert Foothills Library Gallery. Join us.
“Richard Mocco had this wonderful eyeball painting in the 2019 Retrospective put on by the Sonoran Arts League at the Desert Foothills Library.
Anne Otis also had this boy and bird intaglio in the same Retrospective of two of our most respected and creative local League members.
Anne and Richard are immortal because of the stunning artwork they left behind.”
“You Gotta Have Art.” You will love it!
