 An adult painting the Middle Motif, a painting created by Rudolf Steiner. | STAND UP AND PAINTWhen striving to paint with the indications which Rudolf Steiner gave for the renewal of the art of painting, the individual, whether child, young student, adult, or teacher, must stand up! To paint FORM FROM OUT OF THE EXPERIENCE OF COLOR, the great ideal for a modern art of painting, requires the human being to use every aspect of themselves, but especially their feeling for balance and their Sense of Balance. Standing upright —the capacity that distinguishes the human kingdom from the animal kingdom —the individual is much better able to access the feeling for balance and the sense of balance. We need an upright posture, a standing posture. |
When standing up for the first time, a human being must balance themselves in space amongst the various forces at play in the world in which they live. This requires a great deal of self-awareness and awareness of the environment. This awareness grows as consciousness grows. A human being needs consciousness to balance themselves in space. It is also possible to associate the idea of balance with consciousness. Nature and the human being thrive in a state of balance.
Gerard and Elisabeth Wagner, The Individuality of Color, page 60:
“If nature and the human being are built up according to relationships of balance, is it not natural that the human beings would strive for balance in their own creating, in art?”
Also: “In overcoming the weight of the physical body, balance as a physical capacity of inner perception is bestowed upon the human being. It becomes a sense by means of which we measure our relationship to the outside world.”
Human beings live and have consciousness. When they stand up and move about in space without falling over, they are balancing themselves with a sense of balance. And, it is through this sense of balance that the painter can ‘measure’ color into the painting process to produce a harmonious form.
How can we understand this sense of balance?
Gerard and Elisabeth Wagner, The Individuality of Color, page 60:
“If nature and the human being are built up according to relationships of balance, is it not natural that the human beings would strive for balance in their own creating, in art?”
Also: “In overcoming the weight of the physical body, balance as a physical capacity of inner perception is bestowed upon the human being. It becomes a sense by means of which we measure our relationship to the outside world.”
Human beings live and have consciousness. When they stand up and move about in space without falling over, they are balancing themselves with a sense of balance. And, it is through this sense of balance that the painter can ‘measure’ color into the painting process to produce a harmonious form.
How can we understand this sense of balance?
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From Caroline Chanter’s book FROM COLOUR TO FORM, page 147:
“Painters create out of an awareness of the different directions in space: up and down, left and right, center and periphery, and in doing so connect with invisible realms of being.
To get a sense of how body, soul, and spirit are united in the experience of inner balance, we will turn briefly to two senses: the sense of balance and the sense of life. Here, Rudolf Steiner reiterates the significance of the upright posture of the human being and stresses that, in this position, the human being is in interaction with the equilibrium of the whole universe.
Contrary to the opinion prevalent in his time, Rudolf Steiner saw the capacity of human beings to orient themselves in space not simply as an acquired faculty, but as something achieved through an inborn sense of balance.”
CW 227, The Evolution of Consciousness, Lecture August 30, 1923 Rudolf Steiner:
“When a child learns to stand up and walk it is taking its place in the cosmos through its own inner balance and the symmetry of its forces.“
When a painter is painting in balance, they paint with an awareness of “up and down, left and right, middle and periphery” as mentioned above. Colors are applied to the paper with feelings that are learning to search for that right position, that right tone, and the right amount. Seeking in this way is an exercise of the sense of balance in the process of creating an image. This is creating FORM from the experience of the COLOR, the great ideal given by Rudolf Steiner for the renewal of the art of painting. This is the striving to paint in COLOR BALANCE.
Painting in Color Balance is a striving towards harmony or wholeness, and there is a direct therapeutic benefit when the painter works in this way. Balancing form and color together involves both our outward world of perceptions and our inward world of feeling. Just as we balance ourselves in space, we can also balance our world of feelings. This is a wonderful gift of painting in living color. Color wholeness equals human wholeness.
FROM COLOUR TO FORM by Caroline Chanter is an excellent resource for further study of Color Balance and many more aspects of this new way of painting. See chapter two: “Gerard Wagner’s Approach to Balance in Painting.” This book is highly recommended
“Painters create out of an awareness of the different directions in space: up and down, left and right, center and periphery, and in doing so connect with invisible realms of being.
To get a sense of how body, soul, and spirit are united in the experience of inner balance, we will turn briefly to two senses: the sense of balance and the sense of life. Here, Rudolf Steiner reiterates the significance of the upright posture of the human being and stresses that, in this position, the human being is in interaction with the equilibrium of the whole universe.
Contrary to the opinion prevalent in his time, Rudolf Steiner saw the capacity of human beings to orient themselves in space not simply as an acquired faculty, but as something achieved through an inborn sense of balance.”
CW 227, The Evolution of Consciousness, Lecture August 30, 1923 Rudolf Steiner:
“When a child learns to stand up and walk it is taking its place in the cosmos through its own inner balance and the symmetry of its forces.“
When a painter is painting in balance, they paint with an awareness of “up and down, left and right, middle and periphery” as mentioned above. Colors are applied to the paper with feelings that are learning to search for that right position, that right tone, and the right amount. Seeking in this way is an exercise of the sense of balance in the process of creating an image. This is creating FORM from the experience of the COLOR, the great ideal given by Rudolf Steiner for the renewal of the art of painting. This is the striving to paint in COLOR BALANCE.
Painting in Color Balance is a striving towards harmony or wholeness, and there is a direct therapeutic benefit when the painter works in this way. Balancing form and color together involves both our outward world of perceptions and our inward world of feeling. Just as we balance ourselves in space, we can also balance our world of feelings. This is a wonderful gift of painting in living color. Color wholeness equals human wholeness.
FROM COLOUR TO FORM by Caroline Chanter is an excellent resource for further study of Color Balance and many more aspects of this new way of painting. See chapter two: “Gerard Wagner’s Approach to Balance in Painting.” This book is highly recommended
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