There is a yoga teacher who ends each practice with a request. She asks her participants to think before speaking, and to ask themselves the following:  Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?  After attending her class in late December I pondered these questions and thought that besides their great potential to improve relations among people in the new year, her words had some application to the world of art.

Here is my take on the teacher’s admonition:  I will question if the art I am making is true for me. Am I expressing myself or am I painting what I think someone else expects? Is it my style or someone else’s? Next I will ask myself if what I am doing is kind. I will stay away from irony unless I can express contradictions with a caring spirit. If an artist follows these rules, then his or her work will be necessary because it will provide a counterbalance to all that is neither true nor kind.

I’m posting one of my recent intuitive collages to match these rather abstract thoughts for 2017. Wishing you all a happy and healthy new year!

KC