Many aspiring artists believe that the first thing they must learn is manual skills. Does the quality of a work of art only rely on the perfection of its manual execution? The answer is of course, “no”. We know that outstanding art depends before anything on the sensitive connection of the artists with their subject and medium and on their ability to produce work that will deeply resonate in some way with our shared human experience. Manual skills are there to serve the artist and the art, not direct them. And like all skills, they develop naturally with practice.

The first and essential skill of the artist is to be highly sensitive to the aesthetic dimension of life and all the subtle qualities of that experience.

Aesthetic experience is naturally available to all of us, artist or not, at any time, if we make ourselves available to it. When occurring, aesthetic experience triggers a transformative shift from our usual utilitarian functioning into a heighten state of sensitivity and receptivity.

In order to create meaningful art, the artist needs to cultivate an acute and detailed sensitivity, a state of heighten presence, an attentiveness and open curiosity towards the subject and the medium of creation. Being fully present starts with bodily senses, the whole self is involved to pierce through the veil of our conditioned perceptions and see the world with the eyes and senses of the artist.

Your artist’s practice begins with becoming more acutely receptive to your senses’ perceptions of objects, forms, shapes, textures, colors, movements, sounds and words; letting go of your habitual way of seeing and categorizing to re-discover what surrounds you with a refreshed innocence.

Open curiosity, wonder and awe are the guides of your creative process. It is this explorative quality that will fill your art practice with unexpected discovery and metaphoric meaning in the form of insights, inspiration and synchronicity.