oh what fun you all are appreciate it
well as you know I am an artist but I
have a very unusual way that I approach
my artwork and I kind of like to tell
you about it about 20 years ago I was
introduced to a chi gong forum which is
a martial art lots of different martial
arts styles lots of different cultures
but this particular one was developed so
that you could move energy in your body
you can move energy in a room and and
you can move energy so that you feel
better and that you’re more relaxed and
you’re more comfortable and no matter
what it is that you do well this forum
had was very simple it had you might do
this you know eight times and then you
do this eight times and they were like I
don’t know eight different movements
like that very simple and easy to do and
easy to remember and at the end there
was a prayer position
so all this energy that you had moved in
your body and was now moving around you
and you’d kind of unblock things and all
this stuff you could just kind of feel
it clearing as you sat or stood in this
position I could kind of feel it if
you’d almost see like a waterfall can
come around like that and it just felt
wonderful I’d never have felt quite so
so calm but my hands started moving and
they just started moving on their own
and I was kind of like I’m certainly
doing this wrong or so I don’t know what
this is but it felt wonderful and it was
not like anything else I had done in my
life before I’d done a lot of sports and
gymnastics and dance and things like
that but none of these movements were
like that and it was kind of a mystery
to me but I kept doing it and the
teacher that taught me this form I
finally got the courage to tell her that
this was happening
thinking of course she’s gonna say oh
stop that
you know don’t do that but she didn’t
she just grinned and said we’ll keep
going he will just see what happens
well I was miserable enough it was kind
of a really tough time in my life and so
anything that would help me I did and
the more I did it the better and better
that I felt well then my cousin who is
taking some martial arts classes exactly
kung fu which is another form there’s
just lots and lots of them but she
invited me to a martial arts tournament
and we were going to take keep score you
know or you know kind of bring the score
cards to the judges and there I saw
people doing the same movements that I’d
been doing privately in my home and all
of a sudden I know now what this is well
another friend of mine who’s very wise
said you’re Narda stright and I said
yeah I am she said well what about if
you were to take a big sheet of paper
and draw circles on it and I’m like okay
so I go home and I get this big pad of
paper and some charcoal and I start this
movement which by now I didn’t even have
to do at first form I was still just I
was moving just moving on my own much
like I am right now and so I grabbed the
charcoal and this big sheet of paper and
it just went like this and now I had big
circles and then I thought that’s fun I
kept kind of doing that maybe for a year
I just did them in black circles and I
just did them kind of like you’d doodle
in a sketchbook and I did them all the
time and then I thought well okay that
works
how about color and so you know I’m kind
of like well let’s push this and see
it’s kind of way creative creativity
goes you know you get an idea in your
head and you try it and all of a sudden
it worked and so then there were those
big circles in there
colors and my hand would just go to the
red if that’s what was required for the
energy of the piece if you will and so
they just kept going and going and going
and and I kept doing more and more and
more and I would include paint sometimes
and I would include sometimes I’d even
do clay like you get that polymer clay
that’s you can make little things my
hands would just move to make these
little things and I’m like well they’re
not useful but they sure are fun and so
I kept making them I just can making
things you know with all this stuff and
so all of a sudden my artwork became
about kind of getting out of my own way
because I really wasn’t planning what
this was going to look like I had no
idea and I have to tell you it’s
terrifying sometimes to not have any
idea what something’s going to look like
and before you there it is just produced
and you know in spite of myself I would
just basically have to get out of my own
way get out of the judgment get out of
the head and and appreciate the fun that
I was having putting these marks on the
paper well then I wondered can I teach
this system to somebody else so I asked
a few brave friends who said sure I’ll
let you teach me this and so we did and
sure enough people could learn how to do
this with me as well and so we would you
know play in the energy and and kind of
have some ideas and things and one of
the ideas that we had was to see what
would happen if we did this movement in
certain colors and so I put color on us
and we would move in this like an in
blue you would feel much more calm in
red you would feel more agitated and the
movements actually were different in the
different colors and that just became
really fun and plus it made meet shadows
on the wall so then we were shadow
dancing in this stuff now mind you we’re
not young women yeah we were we were
really out of our you know kind of
comfort zone for her so then I wondered
well
again this is the creative process I
wonder what would happen if I projected
my own artwork upon the walls and so I
did I mean you know every time it’s just
kind of a step out of you know my own
comfort zone too so we projected my
artwork up on the walls and moved in
that and it became so fun that I ended
up creating the piece that I would like
to show you today called art light which
I’ve done with adults with developmental
disabilities they really love playing in
it I’ve done it with camp kids I’ve done
it with lots of other adults and retreat
situations so you know it just becomes
this thing of exploring the mystery of
the energy and the mystery of what art
really is anyway I mean who knows we
just keep pushing the edges and pushing
the edges of it
so while you’re sitting there you know
I’m gonna get ready think about how you
feel inside yourself right now just kind
of go deep in and just take a minute no
judgments none whatsoever just we don’t
go in often enough to just see how do we
feel and then when we’re done see if you
feel any differently you may not but if
you do and allow yourself to go deeply
into what you’re viewing in this this
performance view it with your eyes and
do it with your heart just allow this to
happen so I will get dressed
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
you
[Music]
[Applause]
well as you know I am an artist but I
have a very unusual way that I approach
my artwork and I kind of like to tell
you about it about 20 years ago I was
introduced to a chi gong forum which is
a martial art lots of different martial
arts styles lots of different cultures
but this particular one was developed so
that you could move energy in your body
you can move energy in a room and and
you can move energy so that you feel
better and that you’re more relaxed and
you’re more comfortable and no matter
what it is that you do well this forum
had was very simple it had you might do
this you know eight times and then you
do this eight times and they were like I
don’t know eight different movements
like that very simple and easy to do and
easy to remember and at the end there
was a prayer position
so all this energy that you had moved in
your body and was now moving around you
and you’d kind of unblock things and all
this stuff you could just kind of feel
it clearing as you sat or stood in this
position I could kind of feel it if
you’d almost see like a waterfall can
come around like that and it just felt
wonderful I’d never have felt quite so
so calm but my hands started moving and
they just started moving on their own
and I was kind of like I’m certainly
doing this wrong or so I don’t know what
this is but it felt wonderful and it was
not like anything else I had done in my
life before I’d done a lot of sports and
gymnastics and dance and things like
that but none of these movements were
like that and it was kind of a mystery
to me but I kept doing it and the
teacher that taught me this form I
finally got the courage to tell her that
this was happening
thinking of course she’s gonna say oh
stop that
you know don’t do that but she didn’t
she just grinned and said we’ll keep
going he will just see what happens
well I was miserable enough it was kind
of a really tough time in my life and so
anything that would help me I did and
the more I did it the better and better
that I felt well then my cousin who is
taking some martial arts classes exactly
kung fu which is another form there’s
just lots and lots of them but she
invited me to a martial arts tournament
and we were going to take keep score you
know or you know kind of bring the score
cards to the judges and there I saw
people doing the same movements that I’d
been doing privately in my home and all
of a sudden I know now what this is well
another friend of mine who’s very wise
said you’re Narda stright and I said
yeah I am she said well what about if
you were to take a big sheet of paper
and draw circles on it and I’m like okay
so I go home and I get this big pad of
paper and some charcoal and I start this
movement which by now I didn’t even have
to do at first form I was still just I
was moving just moving on my own much
like I am right now and so I grabbed the
charcoal and this big sheet of paper and
it just went like this and now I had big
circles and then I thought that’s fun I
kept kind of doing that maybe for a year
I just did them in black circles and I
just did them kind of like you’d doodle
in a sketchbook and I did them all the
time and then I thought well okay that
works
how about color and so you know I’m kind
of like well let’s push this and see
it’s kind of way creative creativity
goes you know you get an idea in your
head and you try it and all of a sudden
it worked and so then there were those
big circles in there
colors and my hand would just go to the
red if that’s what was required for the
energy of the piece if you will and so
they just kept going and going and going
and and I kept doing more and more and
more and I would include paint sometimes
and I would include sometimes I’d even
do clay like you get that polymer clay
that’s you can make little things my
hands would just move to make these
little things and I’m like well they’re
not useful but they sure are fun and so
I kept making them I just can making
things you know with all this stuff and
so all of a sudden my artwork became
about kind of getting out of my own way
because I really wasn’t planning what
this was going to look like I had no
idea and I have to tell you it’s
terrifying sometimes to not have any
idea what something’s going to look like
and before you there it is just produced
and you know in spite of myself I would
just basically have to get out of my own
way get out of the judgment get out of
the head and and appreciate the fun that
I was having putting these marks on the
paper well then I wondered can I teach
this system to somebody else so I asked
a few brave friends who said sure I’ll
let you teach me this and so we did and
sure enough people could learn how to do
this with me as well and so we would you
know play in the energy and and kind of
have some ideas and things and one of
the ideas that we had was to see what
would happen if we did this movement in
certain colors and so I put color on us
and we would move in this like an in
blue you would feel much more calm in
red you would feel more agitated and the
movements actually were different in the
different colors and that just became
really fun and plus it made meet shadows
on the wall so then we were shadow
dancing in this stuff now mind you we’re
not young women yeah we were we were
really out of our you know kind of
comfort zone for her so then I wondered
well
again this is the creative process I
wonder what would happen if I projected
my own artwork upon the walls and so I
did I mean you know every time it’s just
kind of a step out of you know my own
comfort zone too so we projected my
artwork up on the walls and moved in
that and it became so fun that I ended
up creating the piece that I would like
to show you today called art light which
I’ve done with adults with developmental
disabilities they really love playing in
it I’ve done it with camp kids I’ve done
it with lots of other adults and retreat
situations so you know it just becomes
this thing of exploring the mystery of
the energy and the mystery of what art
really is anyway I mean who knows we
just keep pushing the edges and pushing
the edges of it
so while you’re sitting there you know
I’m gonna get ready think about how you
feel inside yourself right now just kind
of go deep in and just take a minute no
judgments none whatsoever just we don’t
go in often enough to just see how do we
feel and then when we’re done see if you
feel any differently you may not but if
you do and allow yourself to go deeply
into what you’re viewing in this this
performance view it with your eyes and
do it with your heart just allow this to
happen so I will get dressed
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
you
[Music]
[Applause]
Please follow and like us: