Going South

© 2009 Constance Hobbs. All rights reserved.

We're off to Florida. It might be difficult to keep up with my blog for a few weeks. But I'll be back. Before we head down South we're off to Massachusetts to install my daughter in college. So, see you soon and a bientot.

The Abundant Garden

© 2009 Constance Hobbs. All rights reserved.

I'm always so surprised how relatively easy it is to grow vegetables. Nature has repeatedly returned my efforts with substantial abundance. I remember years ago I met an elderly gardener who told me it wasn't necessary to prepare the entire garden bed of soil, just the area around the planting itself. He told me to take some lime and fertilizer, mix it together, prepare a hole, sprinkle in the mixture, drop in your plant or seed, and voila! The lime sweetens the soil, and we all know what the fertilizer does. With these modest instructions I began to garden. I had such success I couldn't believe it. 

© 2009 Constance Hobbs. All rights reserved.

My first garden had quite a bit of sand in the soil which I found out is great for tomatoes and other vegetables as well. So, with very little knowledge I began to garden. The tomatoes above are a harvest from my most recent garden. Nature is so abundant, it's hard to fail as a gardener. Over the years I have discovered there are two secret ingredients to successful gardening that people rarely talk about, love and care. You have to spend time nurturing and caring for your garden or you won't have success. Isn't the garden really a metaphor for life? Take parenting as an example. You must love, care, respect, nurture, pay attention and give your time to your children in order to be a successful parent. Basically, what you put in is what you get out. I guess we could say the same for all relationship. The earth is bountiful. If we look out at the natural world we see vast oceans, the expansive sky, the infinity of stars and space and we realize we live in an abundant universe. Prosperity is our birthright. Just as the earth supports the growth of the garden with love and care it supports us and cares for our growth as human beings.

Sheer Joy and Positive Expectation

© 2009 Constance Hobbs. All rights reserved.

This photograph of my nephew Parker contemplating the abyss of the Atlantic Ocean in Southampton on Long Island, really brings home to me what we face in our daily lives. I remember as a child, every summer, looking out with substantial fear at the awesome waves crashing along the Long Island shore. I was tempted to carelessly dive in with the expectation of total exhilaration, joy, and the wonderful experience of riding a wave successfully to shore. One could risk total annihilation with this carefree, adventurous decision. One false move, especially if the ocean was rough and the currents strong and you might find yourself seriously injured or worse, drowned. One only has to tousle with the enormous power of nature to understand the prospect of total destruction. So many times I missed that perfect moment of harmony with the ocean and experienced it's tremendous strength with the smashing of my scull against the sand and my desperate gasps for air as my tiny body was splish-splashed about over and over again. Not something to look forward to I can assure you. 

© 2009 Constance Hobbs. All rights reserved.

Isn't daily life somewhat similar? As an artist don't we sometimes wake to the feeling of contemplating the abyss? Wondering if we will catch the perfect wave and successfully make it to shore? Or will we lack such harmony, tousle with the waves and become disoriented by the power of the ocean, the flow of life. The reason I like this photo so much is that it reminds me of my childhood bravado. Risk taking with out too much thought and knowledge of what might happen. This is what we need as artists. To stand in front of what we hope to achieve with childlike innocence. Not with the adult knowledge of every possible problem that might arise, but with childhood simplicity and sheer joy. With the positive expectation of happiness and success.

Why do we compare?

© 2009 Constance Hobbs. All rights reserved.

I was considering why comparison is such a knee-jerk reaction for most people. I have a teenage daughter whose stories are filled with young girls who compare and compete rather than cooperate. That kind of comparison and competition brings with it enmity, aggression, gossip, and definitely not love and affection. Comparison breeds conflict. American society is a competitive society. We thrive on it. Don't get me wrong, growing up the middle child of 5, I experienced my share of competition. Competition feeds the ego, whether positive or negative, while cooperation feeds the heart and soul. Perhaps both are important in this life. Yet competition fosters stepping on or over another. It's a shutting down, selfish process, implying me first you second. Not a helping, cooperative process. Many people feel that man could not have created all that he has without competition. I'm not so sure that's true and isn't our present society corrupt in many ways? Just look at the Bernie Madoffs and wall street "greed-aholics". (Of course everyone on wall street isn't a greedy monster.)

© 2009 Constance Hobbs. All rights reserved.

As an artist, what is to be gained by comparing your art to another's? Nothing, is my estimation. When you are comparing artistic work side by side are we truly seeing either work? Are we understanding either work? Has our society become so ruled by the head, the intellect and not by the heart that it has become so difficult for people to forgive, cooperate and love one another? Some artists reach out and help one another. That's a beautiful thing. They understand just how difficult it is to work alone and to try to get the work out. To feel inspired by another artists work is a wonderful experience. To have your passion stirred, to see something, grow and understand something new. Each artist is unique and has a unique story to tell. So, I think its important to put away the intellect and competition in order to create something of true value. Sometimes when I'm considering the contemporary art market and famous artists, it seems to me the intellect, a formula, packaging, manipulation, self promotion and a star formula prevail. It's a business after all and there are rules to follow. If you want to be recognized or famous there's a game to play and contacts to be made. The catch here is that most artists find this the antithesis of what they want to pursue. Ah, the dilemma of being a fine artist. I wish us all Good luck!