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Paul Viel - Unusual Dreams

Sleeping Beauty
Photo Manipulation

Every now and then I try my hand at art. It's never the steady hand of an Escher or the mysticism of Denton Lund or Rassouli, never as creatively unique as Noelle Dass yet it is my own. I have no style that is consistent. This image is an overlay of a photo I took along the Oregon shoreline overlaid with an image of a sleeping woman. The idea for the overlay came from the form of the cape jutting into the Pacific Ocean. I don't claim to be a professional artist but I love art and even some of my own art and the creation process inspires me to keep trying.

So what is it we try to do when we create a piece of art, a dance, a verse or sonnet. The problem with trying to define art is that it's personal to the artist. It's truth and the more unvarnished the truth the the sweeter the taste of the art. I sometimes try to understand why we dance, paint, write or simply create anything. I always fail to fully understand even myself. I do know deeper the honesty the deeper I am touched. I'm not talking the false honesty of sensationalism created prove one's own hipness or morose depression with life. Life is a balance of good/evil, prosperity/poverty, elation/sorrow but through it all there is a richness in our ability to adapt. Our dreams, thoughts, aspirations, actions will always be our own; so too our creativity reflects our spirit.

DaVinci, Waterhouse, Picasso, Rembrandt, Dali are just a few of those who passed on their gifts. Many will never see an exhibit of Van Gogh or Matisse but in their lives images, words, music and dance and more creative venues will shape the world we live in and the future of our souls. So I try but like many others who create I'll not be satisfied until a bit of me is passed on to even one person because in that passing I live beyond my life and touched another soul in a place where honesty is complete.

This blog will continue to grow as I revisit artists that have touched my mind. This all reminds me of a creation of Leonard Cohen (one of my favorite writers/singers) I think it's this excerpt from his song Suzanne that still rattles in my brain that tell me to keep trying to write, create and live.

Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she's half crazy
But that's why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you've always been her lover
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you've touched her perfect body with your mind.

Noelle Dass, Whimsy and Peter Pan

Dog and the Monkey

Sometimes, when I least expect it, a day comes along where the tiedye tees glow and the veggies all seem fresh and clean. That would be the Saturday market in Eugene Oregon. Food and artists and crafts people gather together to literally blow my mind. The last visit to the Saturday Market some art caught my eye and I just loved it. Maybe the bright colors or the simplicity that conveys without words messages more complex than they first appear. Whole stories filled my mind of the hapless monkey that dropped it's banana or the dog chasing a ball in the hot sun. I did talk to the artist for a moment in an instant of mindlessness and said the art would be great in a childs room. She reminded me many adults purchased her art for themselves. I felt old like Peter Pan before he found his youth again in the movie "Hook." Sometime later at the 5th street market (not to be confused with the Saturday Market) I passed a gallery that featured Noelle's creations a style she calls "Artimals" and purchased the dog in the hot sun for myself and a bovine eclypse for my ADULT son. He loved it. Well I contacted Noelle and she gave me permission to share these two pieces with you in my blog. If there were more Noelle's around moving from New York to Oregon I'm sure the world would be too busy enjoying life to ever totally give up their youth. You can visit her web page at http://www.noelledass.com/ Don't miss the wonderful watercolors also exhibited on her site Be sure to tell her Peter Pan said hello and buy something for yourself.

Thank you Noelle