The Art of Devotion: Mark Eanes on Learning and Goal Setting
This is part of the end of year advice series. Guests from the show offer suggestions on how to use an hour a day to get better at painting and share some of their own goals (and how they set them) for the year ahead.
Mark Eanes, Ep. 11, is a mixed media artist living in California. His non objective work uses Eane’s deep knowledge of color and design.
On an Hour a Day:
My first thought relates to the notion of momentum, and how important it is to maintain a steady practice. One of my meditation teachers once advised us to 'take your seat for at least one minute each day'. Vincent Van Gogh famously wrote, "Not a day without a line." The writer Isak Dinsesen said that she wrote a little every day, without hope and without despair.
Think about that...a little every day without hope and without despair. Therein lies a very real emotional task.
My second thought was "an hour in the studio is nothing." An hour in the studio can provide time for creating thumbnail sketches, brief studies, color mixing exercises, etc. All very worthwhile activities.
However, if I were given the choice of being in the studio one hour a day versus several hours in the studio periodically throughout the week, I would certainly choose the latter scenario. It takes a real commitment of extended time and effort to solve the many problems before the artist in the throes of any creative process.
Setting Art Goals:
Setting goals, both short and long term, and seeing them through, requires real dedication and devotion. The ability to stick to it, through thick and thin.
If that's missing, it becomes a little bit like folks who create New Year's resolutions, follow them up for a brief time, only to be abandoned shortly thereafter.
Let me answer this question with an anecdote. Some years ago I was talking with a group of students at the California College of the Arts, where I've been teaching courses for many years. Many of these students were ready to graduate and go into the world, hopefully to make their mark. So there I was, having a conversation with these young artists as to what it takes to 'make it' as an artist. Some were excited, some were nervous, some were doubtful, and many had a mixture of all of these emotions.
“Goals can only be met by devotion and dedication, time and effort. The creative process demands no less.”
- Mark Eanes
At one point I shared with them an interview I heard once. It was an interview by Terry Gross (Fresh Air broadcast) with a prominent British actor of many decades. When she asked him, "What advice would you give young actors and actresses?" -- His advice was so clear and succinct I remembered it verbatim and shared his advice with my students: He said, " If you want to be an actor, don't. If you need to be an actor, do. And be prepared for unfair things to happen along the way."
Simple advice. Needing to do something is very different from wanting to do something. And be prepared for obstacles.
In the same vein, in a marvelous book, Letters to a Young Poet - the writer Rainer Maria Rilke had this advice for a young poet who was having doubts as to whether he had the right stuff to be a successful writer:
"This above all - ask yourself in the stillest hour of your night: must I write? Delve into yourself for a deep answer. And if this should be affirmative, if you meet this earnest question with a strong and simple "I must ", then build your life according to this necessity; your life even into its most indifferent and slightest hour must be a sign of this urge and a testimony to it."
I feel this is the real answer to the question. Goals can only be met by devotion and dedication, time and effort. The creative process demands no less.
Learn more about Mark Eanes, here:
WEBSITE / WORKSHOPS / INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK
Get new episodes (and articles in our End of Year Advice series) sent straight to your inbox by joining the newsletter list below.