I enjoyed another wonderful opportunity facilitating with Wendy Lee’s create! program. When I arrived, somewhat flustered because of a whole series of misadventures, Wendy had the coffee burbling and welcomed me with open arms. So good to see friends down at the East Village!
Eyes…the windows to our soul?
The origin of this profound thought is attributed to different writers and great thinkers…not precisely as it appears in my title, but in one way or another. Here are just a few, appearing on the Quoteland.com site and shared by the moderator.
The quote originated with Cicero, but in a different form.
The eies. . . are called the windowes of the heart by which love enters into the same.~Stefano Guazzo, Civile Conversation, bk IV (1584)
These lovely lamps, these windowes of the soule~Joshua Sylvester, Devine Weekes and Workes (1591)
The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs records the Latin “vultus est index animi (also occulus animi index, the face (also, eye) is the index of the mind” and “The eyes…are the wyndowes of the mynde.” (1545)
Today, inspired by a North Park University community art project, we painted eyes. Participants of the North Park University made images of fellow North Park students (or in a couple cases, faculty). 67 blocks using various media, mounted on a gold-leafed tondo. It is now installed in the vestibule of the chapel at North Park University.
I decided to begin create’s! portrait series at the Golden Age Club in the East Village with a look at the basic structure of frontal view eyes.
To begin with, one of the participants arrived, sporting an AWESOME fashion statement and gave me permission to photograph him. AWESOME! Yellow lenses? Are you kidding? More AWESOME!
While everyone was tentative, we began…analyzing the eye…exploring its complexities and having some fun along the way. Newsprint sketches began as small detailed miniatures and gradually grew to be confident explorations of the subject. More fun! More laughs! Quiet concentration!
At create! we modify our projects and expectations as need be…some artists are still dabbling in landscapes of our last sessions…some require assistance due to special needs. We can adjust! We want everyone to be in full participation to the degree that they are able!
I had a wonderful time and as we offered as our intention at the beginning of class…building…building nests…building community…I am pleased to say that the resulting experience was a warm and loving experience. We really looked into one anothers’ eyes!
Professor Plum Takes on a New Look!
