I went to the library and among other things, I checked out a book on Jasper Johns (focused on the late seventies and eighties) so I’m flicking through the book and see a series of pages that are smeared with oil paint. It wasn’t my oil paint which was just great. I love the idea that multiple artists are looking at the same paintings – or even books and getting the same or different things. I love that.
I want to start talking about process more often and realize I still agree with the teaching from Dogen’s Shobogenzo Zuimonki. For those of you coming to the party a little bit late, here’s the Cliffs Notes version:
Students are taught not to worry about clothing or food and only to focus on “the way”. After a few rounds of questions regarding the practicality of such an approach, Dogen responded that the important thing is to be focused on “the way”, these other things are trivial in the whole of your practice.
Starting next week, I’ll be talking a bit about my process – I’d love to hear about yours as well.