Category: Meditative Artists

Meditation Interview – An Artist in Meditative Space

— Artist Interview with Yvonne Lautenschläger, Part Two—
Go to Part One

Meditation How: When a young girl begins to identify with the rock star Madonna there is something she is attracted to, say empowerment or stardom. By identifying with this image she latches on to some of what she will eventually integrate as her own power. This can exist in many forms, as we focus on inanimate objects, people, universal symbols, nature, animal spirits, etc. Our movement forward towards a greater expression of ourselves is thus a rite of passage, triggered or more deeply enabled by an image of sorts. I wonder if your attraction to the objects of your paintings is an example of this.

Yvonne: Probably the draw is because of the power of this meditative state, yes. I never thought about it before, there simply was this urge. Regarding the rite of passage, again, probably yes, I often paint women, especially in red dresses.

Meditation How: Are you familiar with the meanings of various colors? I want to hear more about what part of you “designates the outcome” and what this means exactly.

Yvonne: Yes, I always was interested in colors, numbers, symbols etc. Regarding designating: I wanted to express that I put my name under a piece which sometimes seems to get painted by another entity than me.

Meditation and Artists

Meditation How: Have you felt that your creative process of painting and surrendering to the moment creatively has deepened over time, or has it always been the same for you?

Yvonne: It slightly deepened, I would say. But in retrospective it had always already that quality but in the past was unconscious. So today I can enjoy it much much more.

Meditation and Artists

Meditation How: Has your consciousness of its value ever impeded on it and lessened the quality of it? Have you ever had the impulse to define it and explain it?

Yvonne: No, the consciousness even deepened it so far. I feel so thankful and graceful. I am trying to not analyze it further than I answer you here.

Meditation How: Thanks for sharing your experiences in regard to this creative and meditative practice. I’d like to encourage comments from artists who have similar experiences with this thoughtless and peaceful space encountered in the midst of creating art. Thank you again Yvonne.

Yvonne: Thank you.

About Yvonne: Yvonne lives in Hamburg, Germany. She has a medical degree and has worked in both Orthopedic and Chinese Medicine but quit the job more than 10 years ago. She is married with an 18 year old son— plus a dog and two cats. Yvonne’s writing and painting can be found at:
https://medeasspace.blogspot.com

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Art as Meditation– No-Mind, Meditative States, Color

— Artist Interview with Yvonne Lautenschläger, Part One—

In this two part interview with artist and painter Yvonne Lautenschläger, she reveals her approach to art and creativity as a channel— as well as how she experiences no-mind and innocence in the present moment as she paints.

Meditation How: Would you call the space that you get into when you paint meditative?

Yvonne: In most cases, yes. There is no time then and I hardly think. Last night I wrote this:

*Who paints?*

*That which is painting through me*
*is innocent, unlogical and pictorial*
*it juggles the paint brush*
*plays with the colors *
*and finally lets me designate the outcome*

Meditation How: I love the poem. Innocence is so important. As much as I want to resist asking you to break down this experience further to respect the brevity and beauty of this poem, I still would like to hear more about the innocence, the absence of logic, and in particular the “letting you designate the outcome”. Let’s begin with your entrance into the meditative state. You obviously get the necessary material together, but then what happens. The more detail in terms of sensation and awareness the better.

Yvonne: First let me say, unfortunately I was never able to paint out of the blue. I need a model/draft. I see something (photo, something in a magazine, rarely places outside) and at once *know* I want to and will paint this. The extreme case was about 10 years between *seeing* and actually painting it. The reason why I say this is, that even this *knowing* of the picture inside of me and *thinking* about it, imagining it from time to time, has meditative aspects. Somehow like being pregnant and already feeling an intimate relationship. Being *still* together.

Art as Meditation No-Mind

When it finally comes to painting, I sometimes get into a *pull*, my hands choose the colors without my mind involved. The brush moves on the paper and very often I can’t *remember* afterward how the forms got to the paper. I am not a professional artist, never learned any technique, there are always *faults* in my pictures, but nevertheless I always ask myself *How did I do that??* I guess the meditative aspect is the being totally in the Now— there is no room for anything else but the Now.

Meditation and Artists

Meditation How: Who can know “why” we do things? Still, do you feel that part of the draw to this process (beginning with the compelling image) is the power of this meditative state— the being so utterly present in the now? Also, do you think there is something going on with the nature of the images, archetypes, for example—or symbols for rites of passage?

Yvonne: Oops, sorry, I don’t get the meaning of this *or symbols for rites of passage*??

Continue with Artist Interview with Yvonne Lautenschläger, Part Two