I don’t think there’s ever been a perfect word for the people who create with hope at the center, but you’ve captured the spirit of it here. Maybe the point isn’t to find a label, but to keep building, connecting, and offering that hope—quietly, steadily, even when language fails. Thank you for reminding us that making things is itself an act of courage and community. Here’s to being part of that group, whatever we’re called.
Yes! So well said!! Our words will always fall short of the full truth or our full feelings, and so our task is to keep feeling ever more fully! Thanks so much as always!!
Duane - every word feels so right - carefully selected and attentively placed -"in its right place"
( did I steal that line from Radiohead, maybe). What I mean is - your words work - they stir my bones and I often need - want - to reread them. The collages are as beautiful too. So lucky us, we can peer at this as much as we desire. Have a nice rest of your week. Warmest, Andrea
Thank you Andrea! This really is the warmest comment! I’ve often stolen Radiohead lines to use as titles for collages, haha. Glad to be in good company.
Thank you for reading, I’m grateful for your attentiveness, and thank you again for all you kind words!
Thank you Jennifer! A “path is maintained as a path only because of the tread of feet”, Stephen Batchelor says. “Just as others have created this path for us, so by walking on it we maintain it for those who will come after us.” Artists are not only pathfinders, but also path-keepers. Our task is to preserve the paths we find and create, to keep them accessible and walkable and discoverable for all others who will find themselves in need of finding their way.
'Artists are the guardians of truth, they are the conscience of civilisation in these days of post truth (Paul Robson)
We live in capitalism, resistance and change often begin in art
Hard times are coming when we will be wanting the voices of writers (and artists) to see alternatives to how we are living now .... and can see through our fear stricken society to other ways of being and imagine grounds for hope
We will need writers who can remember freedom,
the realists of a larger reality
We will need those who know the production of a market commodity and the practice of an art
This is stunning! Thank you so much for sharing this!!
Madeleine L'Engle says that "An artist is someone who cannot rest, who can never rest as long as there is one suffering creature in this world." A every artist then is a kind of bodhisattva, a person who is capable of transcending the ceaseless cycles of tragedy and trauma in the world, but who refuses to. Refuses relief and safety, refuses ultimate calm and serenity, and chooses to stay in the mud of the messy world for sake of all the others still stuck in it, for sake of saving as much of it as possible.
“I make things for people who believe in making things. People who believe that by making things we make our ourselves in to better people. People who believe that by making things that make us into better people we can make the world a better place for us all to live in.”
This resonates to my core. I believe humans are at their best when making art and being creative. Which means we make the world better when we’re making art and being creative. Art uplifts. And that rising tide lifts all ships.
Kate!! You are so on target here!! I am diminished when I’m not making, famished and empty when I’m not creating, and overflowing and running over when I am. This not only how we fill our cups but our wells, and how we help to fill the wells of the world!
I like this point, Duane: "People who believe that by making things that make us into better people we can make the world a better place for us all to live in."
Also, that third collage: "to be of service to the work" is interesting. I like that, 'Victorian astronaut' of sorts and what caught my attention were the pieces of pages from "The Count of Monte Cristo." Interesting!
Once again, you nailed it perfectly, in your words as much as your images.
I believe artists are shamans, the messenger type. We convey energies, transform them into signs, colors, light, love. We make our magic, the big magic Elizabeth Gilbert wrote about.
It can be very, very potent.
We are the truth seekers, the lightworkers, the beacons of light, the highly evolved beings, yes, as Neale Donald Walsh wrote in 'awaken the species'. We must not forget that, we must take care of ourselves so to protect our good hearts and light. We must surround ourselves with ourselves to preserve our positive energy and bring it where needed.
Duane, I admire your discipline and devotion to Art. And I admire your good heart.
And in case no one has told you today... I love you with all my everything too.
Thank you for all of this amazing reply! For all the support and encouragement and for all the love! As i was reading through this I immediately thought a great passage from John O'Donohue's book, Eternal Echoes:
"Artists are the priestesses and priests of culture. They coax the invisible towards a form where it becomes faintly visible, silence towards voice, and the unknown towards intimacy."
We shape the unseen, give words to the un-nameable things, and reveal the places where hope has always been hidden.
We need our work, we need this world, and perhaps most of all we need each other. Thanks being here and sharing this space with me!
I don’t think there’s ever been a perfect word for the people who create with hope at the center, but you’ve captured the spirit of it here. Maybe the point isn’t to find a label, but to keep building, connecting, and offering that hope—quietly, steadily, even when language fails. Thank you for reminding us that making things is itself an act of courage and community. Here’s to being part of that group, whatever we’re called.
Yes! So well said!! Our words will always fall short of the full truth or our full feelings, and so our task is to keep feeling ever more fully! Thanks so much as always!!
Beautiful. I have to say, the collages pull me away from the text. They’re simply so rich. :)
Davor, thank you so much my friend! i take that as a high compliment!
Yes they are really pleasure to look at.
Much appreciated!
Into 🙅♀️in to.
Much appreciated!!
👍🏼
Duane - every word feels so right - carefully selected and attentively placed -"in its right place"
( did I steal that line from Radiohead, maybe). What I mean is - your words work - they stir my bones and I often need - want - to reread them. The collages are as beautiful too. So lucky us, we can peer at this as much as we desire. Have a nice rest of your week. Warmest, Andrea
Thank you Andrea! This really is the warmest comment! I’ve often stolen Radiohead lines to use as titles for collages, haha. Glad to be in good company.
Thank you for reading, I’m grateful for your attentiveness, and thank you again for all you kind words!
Ah ha! That’s so funny that you also have stolen from Radiohead. Thank you too Duane.
Any time!
This is beautiful. Artists are pathfinders and I'm hopeful we can help find the path to that hope and a more beautiful world. Thank you.
Thank you Jennifer! A “path is maintained as a path only because of the tread of feet”, Stephen Batchelor says. “Just as others have created this path for us, so by walking on it we maintain it for those who will come after us.” Artists are not only pathfinders, but also path-keepers. Our task is to preserve the paths we find and create, to keep them accessible and walkable and discoverable for all others who will find themselves in need of finding their way.
'Artists are the guardians of truth, they are the conscience of civilisation in these days of post truth (Paul Robson)
We live in capitalism, resistance and change often begin in art
Hard times are coming when we will be wanting the voices of writers (and artists) to see alternatives to how we are living now .... and can see through our fear stricken society to other ways of being and imagine grounds for hope
We will need writers who can remember freedom,
the realists of a larger reality
We will need those who know the production of a market commodity and the practice of an art
(exert from Ursula le Guin)
This is stunning! Thank you so much for sharing this!!
Madeleine L'Engle says that "An artist is someone who cannot rest, who can never rest as long as there is one suffering creature in this world." A every artist then is a kind of bodhisattva, a person who is capable of transcending the ceaseless cycles of tragedy and trauma in the world, but who refuses to. Refuses relief and safety, refuses ultimate calm and serenity, and chooses to stay in the mud of the messy world for sake of all the others still stuck in it, for sake of saving as much of it as possible.
A vocation. I wonder might the peace and calm emerge over time through the release of the work?
I also find it in the midst of the working, in the process of the making, and I’d like to think that’s part of what’s given when I give it away.
Without doubt. Without doubt, Duane.
Much appreciated!
Duane, I love you, too. This post is beautiful. Martha
Wow! Martha!! Thank you so much! Means so much to me! 🙏🙏🙏
THIS:
“I make things for people who believe in making things. People who believe that by making things we make our ourselves in to better people. People who believe that by making things that make us into better people we can make the world a better place for us all to live in.”
This resonates to my core. I believe humans are at their best when making art and being creative. Which means we make the world better when we’re making art and being creative. Art uplifts. And that rising tide lifts all ships.
Kate!! You are so on target here!! I am diminished when I’m not making, famished and empty when I’m not creating, and overflowing and running over when I am. This not only how we fill our cups but our wells, and how we help to fill the wells of the world!
I like this point, Duane: "People who believe that by making things that make us into better people we can make the world a better place for us all to live in."
Also, that third collage: "to be of service to the work" is interesting. I like that, 'Victorian astronaut' of sorts and what caught my attention were the pieces of pages from "The Count of Monte Cristo." Interesting!
Thank you Neil! So glad it got something out of this! I appreciate it!
Once again, you nailed it perfectly, in your words as much as your images.
I believe artists are shamans, the messenger type. We convey energies, transform them into signs, colors, light, love. We make our magic, the big magic Elizabeth Gilbert wrote about.
It can be very, very potent.
We are the truth seekers, the lightworkers, the beacons of light, the highly evolved beings, yes, as Neale Donald Walsh wrote in 'awaken the species'. We must not forget that, we must take care of ourselves so to protect our good hearts and light. We must surround ourselves with ourselves to preserve our positive energy and bring it where needed.
Duane, I admire your discipline and devotion to Art. And I admire your good heart.
And in case no one has told you today... I love you with all my everything too.
Thank you for all of this amazing reply! For all the support and encouragement and for all the love! As i was reading through this I immediately thought a great passage from John O'Donohue's book, Eternal Echoes:
"Artists are the priestesses and priests of culture. They coax the invisible towards a form where it becomes faintly visible, silence towards voice, and the unknown towards intimacy."
We shape the unseen, give words to the un-nameable things, and reveal the places where hope has always been hidden.
We need our work, we need this world, and perhaps most of all we need each other. Thanks being here and sharing this space with me!