Monday, October 15, 2012

Process & Product, Introvert & Extrovert



This quick sketch in my private journal makes me think of concepts that have been important to me during my whole life: Process verses Product. This artist whom I sketched goes deep into her spiritual process. She studies technique & also connects with imagery that is important to her spirit. On the way, the paintings she creates, indeed Products, are lovely to enjoy. In my childhood it was the Process of Drawing that sustained me, & the pressure to create Products that inhibited me. The balance between the 2 got lost. 
My Products are currently "exposed" ( the French word for art exhibit is "exposition) on the café wall, & they're being bought. It's a relatively new thing, so I reflect again on Process verses Product, or rather, Process AND Product. I also reflect on the personality types of Intovert & Extrovert. Like Ferdinand the Bull, I am (mostly) an Introvert living in an extroverted world. Ferdinand & his book, in both my childhood Polish version & the English, was my hero & I loved him. I still do. Do you know Ferdinand?
 In the end, he got to go back & sit under his favorite tree, "smelling the flowers just quietly." "I odtąd, chociaż może to plotka, zawsze w tym miejscu można go spotkać, jak sobie siedzi i wącha kwiatki, maki, stokrotki, jaskry, bławatki, słucha jak szumią lasy i niwy." (a lot more detail was added to the translation!) The last sentence: "He is very happy." "I jest podobno bardzo szczęśliwy." 
  My little Products often reflect my places of solitude such as Scarborough Marsh...
Or Portland, from a quiet spot in the distance...

Unlike Ferdinand, I also love being with people, & have a bit of an extroverted side too. The show is giving me a gift of connecting with wonderful people. And it all is working, as over the years I've learned how to wander between the sides of Process & Product, Extrovert & Introvert. 
I'm curious, dear Readers, are you more Introvert or Extrovert? Or do you even think about it?

11 comments:

  1. Your watercolour sketches are so lovely. very fresh and immediate and confident.
    Happy Sketching.
    .

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  2. Lovely paintings no wonder they are selling. Good question on the Inro verses Exro. My Dad was an Extrovert and talented. My Mom was very much an introvert and talented in her own way. I fall somewhere in-between I think, depending on my confidence at the moment. :)

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  3. Nie znam książki o byczku Ferdynandzie. Rita, can you tell me who the translator was?
    I think I am more of an extrovert, although I do love to be by myself at home or taking a walk, on an occasion. It seems to me that if an artist is an introvert, we still get to know them a bit through their art, the way they see the world and they way they express their ideas.
    Pozdrawiam ciepło ze słonecznej dziś Warszawy.

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    1. Pani Zosiu: re. Polish translation of Ferdinand, from the title page: WEDŁUG TEKSTU MUNRO LEAFA NAPISAŁA IRENA TUWIM Ilustracje Roberta Lawsona WYDAWNICTWO J. KUBICKIEGO DRUKARNIA KRAKOWSKA W GRZELAK I SP. W WARSZAWIE ... "wydana po raz pierwszy w 1936 roku.... W Polsce bajka znana jest między innymi w przekładzie Ireny Tuwim." For more go to http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byczek_Fernando Widipedia Wolna Encyklopedia
      Ja kocham tą książke.

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    2. Irena Tuwim was a very good translator, so I am glad that you have a copy translated by her.
      Dziękuję za informacje. Pozdrawiam.

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  4. As a child I was a bit of an introvert. An only child, I preferred to stay near my Mom when out in public. Now I'm a full blown extrovert I'm afraid. I have to reign myself in at times!

    Exhibiting ones work is difficult n'est-ce pas??? I am always a bit uneasy. I"m sure your work is well received and I would dearly love to see it for myself.
    Good luck my Dear,
    V

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  5. I did a whle bog post on that book and all the wonderful 'bull' contained in the pages. That last shot look like St. Doms.

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  6. Sweet Rita, as the oldest child in a family of six sisters, I was the ringleader, the party-maker, the teacher, and sometimes the instigator. I would have to say that I have been outgoing all my life, but I do love working in the quiet of my art studio/office and feel very comfortable just being In the quiet of solitude.... for awhile (wink)

    I know that you will do well with your art, and I wish that I could be there to cheer you on! I do know and love Ferdinand!

    Bises,
    Genie

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  7. Introverted! Or so my family told me often, though I hadn't a clue what they meant.
    I too loved Ferdinand the bull. I even had and articulated wooden Ferdinand bull with a fly painted on his derriere. I think it was a hand-me-down from my sister. Where is it now. I must reread this book :)
    Thanks for the fond memories.
    I'm all for process and to hell with products.

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  8. Ferdinand, the bull, had a favorite place; so did Georges Brassens. Do you remember "Auprès de mon arbre, je vivais heureux.."?

    There is more than one side to each of us, there is some or a lot of the introvert and the extrovert in us, depending on the circumstances and our mood.

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  9. no pewnie, że znamy byczka fernando:))) kochany jest!

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Thank you for your comments! They mean a lot to me!