The Challenges of Creating and Presenting "Spiritual" Art

As I have been slowly rearranging my creative space this winter, I have have gradually come to recognize that one of the primary challenges of making "spiritual" art is that it's very difficult to describe and present.

A collage of finished mandala stones, prepared ahead of an art show

Let's just start with the fact that what makes something "spiritual" or "mystical" means one thing to one person and something completely different to another person, so writing about my process and what is then interpreted from that is a very individual thing.

As of late have been thinking about what I want to do with this blog. After two years and change of trying to maintain this in some meaningful way, it hasn't exactly turned out the way I expected.

Part of the problem — if, in fact, there is a problem — is that what I do lends itself very poorly to an "art process" type blog. I don't work on individual pieces one at a time, in sequence, rather I work a little bit on maybe 8 or 10 pieces in parallel. That makes it a bit of a challenge to "track" the process associated with any single item.

Then comes the "woo-woo" part involving specific meditations I do... is the associated meditation part of the creative process?

When we take Alchemy Stones to art shows and set up a vendor space, what people want to talk about runs the range from "types of paint" to whether I am getting "messages from the Universe."

On reflection, perhaps what makes the most sense is simply to start using this blog to do something I already on loose sheets of paper: take notes of what I do on a (almost!) daily basis, whether it's actual creativity, or listing items for sale on Etsy. A personal art Journal of sorts.

Perhaps that doesn't sound all that interesting and readable to somebody from an external perspective, but sometimes you have to ask yourself the value of what you're doing, and who you're doing it for.

I remember reading a story, many years ago, about the artist Georgia O'Keeffe and her partner Edward Stieglitz, who was a photographer of some note. Allegedly, O'Keeffe's rise to fame and acclaim substantially happend after stieglitz convinced her that she needed to start painting for herself rather than for her perceived audience.

I find some wisdom in that; words that resonate.

In blogging, it's certainly important to keep in mind that you have an audience but we must not lose sight of the fact that the content we create needs to be of some use to ourselves as well. Otherwise, why bother?

The main thing I know is that I need to start using this space regularly, as part of my creative expression. In doing so, I would also at least give myself a chance to earn at least some minimal rewards here and there to apply towards art supplies.

I have never had delusions of "making a living" at art, but it would at least be nice if it were "self-funding."

So, I'm going to start experimenting with keeping a regular Work Journal for a while. Not that I actually have time to work on art everyday. But at least it will provide a record of what I did and what the projects were about, which is something I often forget.

Thanks for stopping by and looking!

Because I am trying to make some semblance of income — a part-time living, even — I now add this footer to all my posts, in the hope that someone, somewhere, might decide to take a further look at my work, and perhaps consider supporting independent art.

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