From the studio

OK, a full week of tours, open house and a meeting at my studio. Grateful for all who came. Many meaningful comments. Now it's great to be back working. Latest work almost complete - looking for a name....

Stravinsky on creativity

Correcting Creativity

by Sam McNerney | Source: Scientific American

By the time he put the finishing touches on the Rite of Spring in November of 1912 in the Châtelard Hotel in Clarens, Switzerland, Stravinsky had spent three years studying Russian pagan rituals, Lithuanian folk songs and crafting the dissonant sacre chord, in which an F-flat major combines with an E-flat major with added minor seventh. The rehearsal process wasn’t easy either. Stravinsky fired the German pianist and the orchestra and performers only had a few opportunities to practice at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, where the Rite debuted in May 1913. But the Russian born composer pulled it off, and his composition now stands as a 20th century masterpiece. Critics, of course, panned it terribly.

Stravinsky is one of seven eminent creators of the 20th century profiled by Harvard professor Howard Gardner in his book Creating Minds. The others are Pablo Picasso, Sigmund Freud, T.S. Eliot, Martha Graham, Mahatma Gandhi and Albert Einstein. One can debate the list but Gardner’s foremost conclusion is uncontroversial: creative breakthroughs in any domain require strenuous work and a willingness to challenge the establishment.

Open House at Lark Studio

The culmination of 4 months hard work and my studio space has grown by three times? There are a lot of works on display but, after the Utah County Artist Guild meeting here next Thursday, it will become a more bare bones artist work place.
Thanks to all who came!! Your interest, support and comments were wonderful.