I’ve never been one to live on the edge.
But this week has been full of edges. I’m just back from an amazing ten days in Oregon (opening the 2016 National Photo Encaustic Exhibition and teaching two back-to-back workshops). Before I left I was fixated on the Oregon coast. Couldn’t wait to get out there. All I could think about were edges. Trees, Mountains, Beaches, Horizons, Rocks, and Textures.
I became fascinated with the idea of edges—where something stops and another begins.
Tension lies in an edge; it’s where learning resides and change happens. I seem to be telling anyone who will listen, that I’m turning 50 at the end of the month. Somehow 50 seems to be an edge for me. Not because I’m feeling old, quite the contrary, because I finally feel like I have arrived. I’m pushing myself more than I have in the past. Life is a journey and it all comes in the right time. I don’t believe the status quo is good enough. I know I have the power to live the life I want. It’s all my choice. And I’m just now finding my truth and my happiness.
Every day as I walked and walked the beaches I learned new things. My heart was filled with love, gratitude, beauty, and even a little sadness. As the tide drifted out I learned to let go and to embrace the edges.
I thought about my art. Someone once suggested that I work in wax because it covers the image…..that I’m hiding behind it. She extrapolated it to mean that I wasn’t willing to let people see the true me. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Rather I work in wax because of its luminosity and the ability to see the image more deeply.
When making art, find your edge. Push yourself. Be uncomfortable. Understand where the tension happens…..and the magic will follow. I promise.
The Oregon coast taught me to let go, love, and be open to the next 50 years. I am so filled with gratitude.
Would love to hear from you about your thoughts. Leave your comment below.
Be well….be creative,
Lovely! Metaphoric and inspiring. Thank you, Clare.
Lyn
Thanks Lyn……
Happy Birthday a bit early Clare.. I remember turning 50 (53 now) and thinking along some of the same lines as you shared. I had a big bash and said bring on the next 50 years and have tried to embrace it. I am happy to say that I am about 8 weeks or so to one dream I have had for a very long time a studio, gallery, and art center… Very exciting time in my life. The magic that will come to you because you experience the journey and take the time to seek it… Enjoy the ride….
Cheers, Suzanne
Thanks Suzanne. It is indeed a great time:) And congratulations to you for realizing your dream and making it happen.
I love your comment about the depth of what working with wax means to you. The luminosity and the depth that it gives.
I have not learned how to do encaustic as yet. But it is calling me in the next step along with the photography I am doing.
Thank you for sharing, and allowing us all to remember about letting go and stepping into the unknown.
Maree Cree
Thanks Maree. I’m so glad encaustic is calling you. It’s such a wonderful medium……and I’m hoping you will fall in love with it as I have.
Wonderful post, Clare, about turning 50, embracing the tension at the edges. and finding magic. I’m a little early, too, but wishing you a Happy Birthday, and a powerful next 50 years!
Thank you my friend:)
Happy Birthday a bit early, Clare! You are an adventurer and explorer and the next 50 years are yours to create!
Hugs,
Sheila
Thanks Sheila. I will always remember our workshop……I feel like we were all in the trenches together with the heat soaring above 100. But you were all troopers. Thank you.
I turned 60 this year. Not so traumatic as 50 because I have so much more reason for humility and gratitude. My encaustic work is still very exciting to me thanks to you. I keep finding out more about wax and myself. What a marvelous game. Congratulations on a life well lived.
Thank you Carol. And Happy Birthday to you as well. Your piece looks great at Sage Gallery. You are doing fabulous work:)
Beautiful! And happiest of birthdays!!!! You are covering nothing, only revealing in your voice!!!
Blessings,
Maggie
Thank you Maggie. And thank you for being the catalyst to teaching photo encaustic:) If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be teaching.
I’m on the edge. Next spring I am quitting my job. I don’t think of it as “retirement” as much as “release”. I’m giving myself permission to follow the edges of humanity, geography and photography. My wife is very afraid.
What a great edge to be on. Congratulations.
Thank you Clare! Beautiful post!
Especially loved this part: “When making art, find your edge. Push yourself. Be uncomfortable. Understand where the tension happens…..and the magic will follow. I promise.” I have been feeling this a lot lately………
Happy Birthday early! There is freedom in turning 50 (at least that has been my experience).
Thanks again for all you share!
Thanks Dianne. I’m definitely feeling the freedom.
Beautiful Clare..I love the exploration of edges…something unbounded to meditate on. A sort of contradiction edges which are not a finite end but a beginning. Ah but to me 50 seems so young. You sound in a joyous place, happy and filled with gratitude.
Happy birthday.
So looking forward to the course.
Thank you Crissea. It is indeed a great time:)
I too have thought about edges. It happened at a time of many years of transitional turmoil and how I craved those soft edges, the misty curved edge kind without the painful sharp edges that cut and defined life so blatantly.
Now at 70 years , I breathe in new creative possibilities. I’ll be taking a two full day workshop in Encaustics at MECA, ( Maine College of Art) in July. I still favor exploring those beautiful soft edges in an artistic way, although I do realize that clearly defined edges give definition to form. It will be interesting to see what happens as this is a basic level class and I’m really just getting started. I also love the translucency, layering and depth of vision that encaustic allows. I’ve learned that it is important to listen, but to trust what you know to be true for yourself. Happy 50th year and many more fun filled years to come. I’m still hoping you someday teach in our beautiful state of Maine!
You are so right Karen, the soft edges are just as important and the hard edges. Thank you for the birthday wishes. And enjoy your class in July. Maine is most definitely on my radar for next year.