"Play allows the mind to develop and thus the crows become more creative." I think that pertains to us all, corvids, humans, and everyone in between.
As artists, it is so important to play, to revert in a way to a childlike mental state, to relax... Every time I remember to do this, I find that the art I am trying to create seems to flow better.Think of some of Henri Matisse's dancers; here, he seems to have distilled his art to a marvellous sense of joyous play. This is a second version of Dance that Matisse did in 1909-1910, the version now in the State Hermitage Museum . But then fast forward to 1947, when Matisse had to ressort to paper cut-outs, papiers coupes, because his infirmities precluded him from painting. He still retained a sense of play, and his creativity was undimmed.
This is Icarus (Jazz)
(image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). How more eloquent an example of play allowing creativity to flow can one get!This is Icarus (Jazz)
The crows can certainly teach us a lot. So can Matisse!
Happy New Year to all, and joyful play.
Posts
I love to play.....and now I am retired I can play mostly when I want to. Thank you for the link to the Murder of Crows. The corvids are such an interesting group of birds. We get both crows and magpies in our garden and they are fascinating to watch. They certainly play. Earlier this year I spent some merry moments watching three magpies sliding down the roof of our neighbours gazebo then flying up to the top and sliding down again. They spent about 15 minutes doing this before, as I imagine, they got bored and flew away. A very entertaining and enlightening book about these birds is Corvus: A Life with Birds by Esther Woolfson.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for the New Year.
May you have a wonderful, creative and playful New Year! What fun to watch your magpies playing... all these moments or minutes of fascination add such delicious dimensions to life. Thank you for the book title - I will hunt it down and read it. A happy 2012.
ReplyDelete