I saw an interesting “signature” on a post today, a quote attributed to Michelangelo,”
“ I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
I wondered how the principle could be applied to other forms of creative endeavors. It works with language. When I write a story I free an idea, a concept, a plot, from the big block of words in my head.
Photography is a bit different. I capture a part of my surroundings. I don’t set a sunrise free; I document a moment in time. The same idea could be applied to painting, to a certain degree. If I copy a scene from nature as accurately as I can, I stop the moment. If I interpret the scene, or envision a scene, I set free a moment. My moment. I look at abstract painting as setting free ideas. And what about music, does it capture or set free? In a way, I think it does both. Sounds are collected from instruments and voices and released into new tonal combinations.
How does this relate to 100 bears for Africa? Unlike the sculptor who may envision any form hidden in his medium, or the painter, who may splash unlimited ideas on his canvass, or the photographer who may turn to the right or left to catch a different moment, or even the musician who may chose different instruments to alter the sound of a ballad, I am limited by shape. A teddy bear shape comprised of five thousand stitches. But as I knit, walking back and forth in my living room, sitting in front of my computer, watching TV, each loop catches a bit of me - my thoughts, my wishes, my memories, the words I would say to a child if I stood in front of it.
Imagine, thousands of teddy bears, carrying bits and pieces of us, making their way across the world to a little boy or girl whose arms open wide to welcome the new friend.
And I just sit here and smile.
“I felt the message in my heart and purled until I set it free.
“ I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
I wondered how the principle could be applied to other forms of creative endeavors. It works with language. When I write a story I free an idea, a concept, a plot, from the big block of words in my head.
Photography is a bit different. I capture a part of my surroundings. I don’t set a sunrise free; I document a moment in time. The same idea could be applied to painting, to a certain degree. If I copy a scene from nature as accurately as I can, I stop the moment. If I interpret the scene, or envision a scene, I set free a moment. My moment. I look at abstract painting as setting free ideas. And what about music, does it capture or set free? In a way, I think it does both. Sounds are collected from instruments and voices and released into new tonal combinations.
How does this relate to 100 bears for Africa? Unlike the sculptor who may envision any form hidden in his medium, or the painter, who may splash unlimited ideas on his canvass, or the photographer who may turn to the right or left to catch a different moment, or even the musician who may chose different instruments to alter the sound of a ballad, I am limited by shape. A teddy bear shape comprised of five thousand stitches. But as I knit, walking back and forth in my living room, sitting in front of my computer, watching TV, each loop catches a bit of me - my thoughts, my wishes, my memories, the words I would say to a child if I stood in front of it.
Imagine, thousands of teddy bears, carrying bits and pieces of us, making their way across the world to a little boy or girl whose arms open wide to welcome the new friend.
And I just sit here and smile.
“I felt the message in my heart and purled until I set it free.
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