Return to Drawing

After 4 years of research and writing, and having completed my Master of Arts in Communication and Technology and well into my Doctoral Program, I just had to take a break from my self-imposed studio sabbatical and return to drawing. Just to experience again the beauty of drawing. I am also writing about "the spiritual in art." The spiritual in art is the act of drawing itself based on intuitive and cognitive experiences, that is, inspiration grounded in a lifetime of learning contemporary and ancient traditions, and endless hours of drawing. So, I mounted a large piece of Japanese paper on Stonehenge paper and began a classical figure drawing of a model I had drawn many times before. The result was very satisfying and gave me the assurance that the assumption "use it or lose it," is not a foregone conclusion.

"Kriya," by Gerrit Verstraete, 2013. Cat.No, 1223. (22 ¼ X 30 in. / 56.7 X 76.4 cm, unframed) Wollf's Carbon Pencil.

To edify one another

What can I possibly contribute to a professional network when our respective journeys are so divergent and distinctly our own? Is there a “scarlet thread” that links us as people regardless of our similarities and differences? I think that “scarlet thread” is a mutual quest to be edified, or as the dictionary defines: to encourage, enlighten and benefit, especially intellectually, morally and spiritually.

Invitations to all sorts of social and professional media sites abound. But is there room for a network that encourages a new kind of dialogue, such as the exploration of questions we all encounter on our professional journeys?
1. How to appropriate satisfaction in achievement whether great or small?
2. What is fulfillment in a postmodern world?
3. What to share with others that is neither bragging nor opportunistic, but truly worth sharing?

For example: Over a period of 8 years, from 2004 to 2012, I completed writing an epic poem that filled 10 volumes. Joseph Glaser, a young composer at UBC took Cerulean, the main character of the epic, to heart as reflecting his own journey of discovery. He began work on a musical movement for volume 1 of the epic Cerulean Odyssey. It took him over a year. In the Spring of this year the movement was accepted by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra for their annual Jean Coulthard Readings along with eight other young composers. The performance took place at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver on March 20, 2013. You can imagine my awe and thrill to hear the 7 minute movement played twice by the entire orchestra. There is was. My epic put to orchestral music. Now the composer wants to explore writing a full symphony for the entire epic poem. Imagine how difficult it is to share my joy with the hope others receive it as such, and not as me selling anything or proposing some sort of business opportunity?

Cereulan Odyssey is an integral part of my Doctoral work, as an expression of visual language and the experience of life at the intersection of art, critical thought, and spirituality such as the kingdom of God.