I spent several hours today photographing the 4 new Spirit Books and a few other things. I always feel insecure about my abilities behind the camera. After last week's attitude shift about making the bases, I decided one was in order here. I tried to not judge my efforts but just do the best I could. I thought back to this paragraph in Art Lessons: Reflections From An Artist's Life:
Jaki introduced us to the book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki. She urged us to take away value judgements in reference to our lettering. If we make a letter and think it’s good, it puts pressure on us as we make the next one. If we look at a letter we have just made and say it’s bad, it decreases our confidence and our flow and we don’t make the next one with the right attitude. Suzuki wrote: “Good and bad are only in your mind. So we should not say, ‘This is good,’ or ‘This is bad.’ Instead of saying bad you should say, ‘not- to-do!’”
Tomorrow the best ones will go from the laptop to the big screen of my computer. I'll be posting them on my website after the opening of my exhibit at the Governor's Academy on April 3.
1 comment:
Susan, I love seeing your setup, especially as it is so small and efficient! I have always thought your Spirit Books were beautifully photographed, so you are doing something right! Is that a professional photographer's sweep? That seems to be the hardest to duplicate without the real thing. I have tried all kinds of cloths and all kinds of papers. Best wishes!
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