Ducks @ Oregon - University of Oregon

Soul

Korrin B.

November 7, 2009 - 4:50 PM

At the beginning of this year, I stated that my 2009-10 theme would be mind, body, and soul. This post will explore some of the correlation between these three topics, while focusing on the nourishment of the soul.

It happened last Sunday. My creative hiatus was over. It was 1:00am and all I wanted to do was paint. I looked at my craft table, set up in my new place. It looked so pristine. The tablecloth I had bought and put on it only had small bits of black paint on it from when I painted a border on some old artwork. The brushes, the canvasses, were neatly stacked on top of it and the chairs were pushed in. For the most part, it looked completely unused, more of a decorative piece than a creative space. For the last couple of months, I feel as though I have been having a standoff with my craft table. We've stood, face to face, both knowing what we wanted, but unable to approach the topic how we wanted to. I wasn't ready. I was scared. But there, in the very beginning of the morning, I was ready to break that wall between us down. I sat down and began to sketch.

The night was quite besides the scratching of my pencil against the white canvass. I felt so good. It was coming so naturally. I remember the first brush stroke against the canvass and the rich black color that it left there shinning. At 5:00am, I was finished. I had painted a red and gray rowboat from an angle that made it appear to be headed toward something. I was so proud of it. I leaned it against the wall, stepped back, and stared at it. I sat on the floor and continued my gaze. Finally, I realized I had school the next day, so I headed up to my loft to go to sleep. Before I turned off the lights, I peaked over the railing of my loft for one final glance. I was back. I was painting again - in Eugene.

From that moment, any luck for me having healthy sleep patterns was shot. I once again stayed up until 5:00am painting on Tuesday night. I had a final the next morning for my American Sign Language class. Studying would have been good for the mind, yes, but it was my soul that was hungry. Therefore, with only slight reluctance and fear, I didn't study that night. Instead, I painted. I let my soul study the shades of pink, red, orange, and purple that covered my canvass in an abstract representation of the heart center.

A couple of my friends in my sign language class who have become aware of my obsession with late night painting like to tease me about it. They know when I've been up late because I show up to class in a hat to cover the fact that I have complete bed head from, well, just rolling out of bed and making it to class. On the day of our midterm, they saw my hat, and decided I should've been an art major. Our teacher began to sign us paragraphs and then also sign us the questions to the test. It was very necessary to know what was going on.

What have I learned from all of these sleep-lacking nights of painting? I have learned how incredibly necessary nourishing the soul is for the mind. A mind that is allowed to dance with the soul is one that is open to new learning. How do I know this? Midterm score: 59/60.