Engaged unpredictability is the term Rhode Island School of Design president Rosanne Somerson uses. In a message to alumni in RISD XYZ Spring/Summer 2017 (thanks for sharing the magazine, Carol), she asserts that engaged unpredictability is the starting point for positive transformation.
My experience with painting The Plainspoken Beauty of the Place is well captured in Somerson's message as she makes reference to a particular drawing assignment she gives students:
Time and again, right after [an] "antsy" point of total frustration, something completely unexpected … emerge[s]. When the body [is] forced to sit still and persevere, the brain [takes] over, spewing out new possibilities.
Yes!
The "force" to persevere came from my own curiosity and commitment, but I sure did get antsy with frustration, discomfort, and flagging spirits more than once.
But then.
Then.
Something transformatively different came into play and I scrambled to keep up with the possibilities playing out through my paintbrush.
Way cool.
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| The Plainspoken Beauty of the Place 12x24"; acrylic, collage, ink, pencil, and pastels on canvas abstract landscape 2017 |
a brief history:
