#1 - Introduction - Establishing a Foundation

“The individual becomes conscious of himself as being this particular individual with particular gifts, tendencies, impulses, passions, under the influence of a particular environment, as a particular product of his milieu. He who becomes thus conscious of himself assumes all this as part of his own responsibility. At the moment of choice he is thus in complete isolation, for he withdraws from his surroundings; and yet he is in complete continuity, for he chooses himself as product; and this choice is a free choice, so that we might even say, when he chooses himself as product, that he is producing himself.”

KIERKEGAARD

For this blog, an introduction is necessary to establish a foundation. Setting an expectation. Giving fundamental information to refer to at any time. Providing a sense of direction and pace. Preparing energetically for this journey we’re about to embark on.

THE START

Building a house is a tried-and-true metaphor, as every house is erected on a strong foundation; without it, or built upon a weak one, it would decay much faster. With a strong one, future additions and improvements can be made without starting over. In horticulture and botany, establishing a foundation entails having an understanding of the fundamental needs of plants and preparing the soil to create ideal conditions for the planting and growing of flourishing, high-quality plants. During pregnancy, it’s the woman’s emotional and physical preparation for childbirth. In life, it can be seen as establishing an educational background, creating a nurturing and safe environment for a new family, starting a job or career at the entry level, and developing a base for an interest or hobby. A community establishes a foundation by creating a collective support system and a sense of belonging within a sphere of interest or belief. In a culture, traditions are created and perpetuated by passing the practice to the next generation, establishing a foundation for cultural practice and perspective. At the end of life, it’s sometimes referred to as “nesting” – even the dying can benefit from preparing a foundation.

For artists and creatives, establishing a foundation is more complicated than an action with a means to an end. Learning skills and technique, gaining an understanding of a medium, and figuring out how to offload (or sell) work are all one aspect of the foundation. But there’s something much more complex at play: the creative urge and where it comes from. As Otto Rank (1932) discusses in his book Art and Artist, artists build a foundation through the process of individuation, which involves separating from the collective norms and creating a unique identity. This foundation is built on the artist's ability to confront and integrate their inner conflicts and experiences, transforming them into creative expressions. He conceptualized the idea that life itself can be approached as a creative act, pushing forth the notion that there is an art to everything. He argued that the creative urge is fundamental to human existence and that everyone has the potential to live artistically by embracing the present, engaging with new experiences, and collaborating creatively with others.

In this sense, everyone has the potential to be an artist with the right foundation. And every person’s individual foundation is completely unique to them. Performing daily tasks like making the bed or cooking a meal, up to how one performs at work and interacts with others are potential acts of artistry. Meeting challenges, big or small, with vigor, whether successfully overcome or needing to be revisited, brings a richness to life.

MICHELE – ARTIST

Firstly, I’m not collegiately educated, and I have no experience in STEM fields. I’m an artist with prior experience working in the outdoor industry, senior care industry, and restaurant industry. I’m merely a person interested in the sciences and social sciences, namely in terms of cultural/personality development, art/art history, ethnobiology, thanatology, and spirituality. The perspectives in this blog are my own, informed by research and experience, and referenced where possible with sources to provide credibility to my words. Like everyone, my life experiences have shaped me and expanded my perspectives in just about every direction possible. My open-mindedness has rewarded me with a wealth of curiosity and a motivation to progressively satisfy my deep desire to learn and understand. I approach life with empathy; therefore, I’m not easily offended.

I’m a shy girl raised with complicated family dynamics, from a rural oasis skirting a little urban metropolis called Orange County, California, USA. You may’ve heard of it. I grew up in a canyon community tucked away in plain sight, where even people who had lived in the OC generationally had no knowledge of. I was called a “hillbilly” when bussed into the city for school. I didn’t like to wear shoes or dresses, and I preferred the company of Coastal Live Oaks and a babbling creek to that of a crowded mall or Saturday night house party. I was extremely naïve to pop culture reality, and my father’s word was the only divine doctrine I adhered to. When I wasn’t escaping into youth sports, I was spending time alone ruminating in the mountains, even as a young child. To this day, I seek solitude in nature to cleanse, reflect, ponder, and observe.

Interlaced within the fabric of my childhood were the compulsions to draw and express myself creatively through artistic play. From a young age, drawing was an activity of self-discovery as I learned how to draw and how much positive affirmation I received for being “good” at it. Whether I became artistically inclined because of its use as a coping mechanism or because I was born to draw is a question that I ponder often. As I became familiar with this skill, I became aware of how many things there were to draw, expanding my curiosity through observation. I wanted to draw everything around me, to the point of ambivalence, as it was overwhelming to pick subjects out of a vast new world. I taught myself basic skills, like shading and perspective – drawing flowers and baseballs (on fire sometimes😅) and landscapes through the car window on a road trip. I enjoyed drawing my pets, animals, and food, and imagining environments for them all – creating elaborate scenes on my big paper easel. But most of all, I loved climbing trees and drawing what I saw from my perch.

As a teenager, I received my first oil set as a Christmas gift – my introduction to the medium I view as tool and muse today. It was likely my first interpersonal struggle with art, certainly my first compelling one. Learning a new medium is difficult, learning it alone and being unable to express myself through art for the first time in my life…these emotions are the foundation of my personal artistic process and potentially my thought process as a whole. For art became less about creating for attention and more about my own personal success. Learning the medium, developing skills and knowledge, understanding the fundamentals and how the paint behaves, maintaining creative motivation, developing confidence, figuring out my preferences, endlessly painting in seclusion…This was the beginning of the rest of my life.

‘NATURE’

The two prevailing notions of “nature” are that which pertains to the natural world and that of the inherent nature of something/someone. The “natural world” encompassing our physical earthly environment sans human creation, including the collective phenomena we think of as being outside – Flora and fauna, geological landscapes, ecosystems, climate and weather, and other features and products of the Earth. The inherent “nature” of something or someone refers to the essential quality or character of its existence – the foundation of a thing, person, behavior, and so on.

Expanding upon this, we can insinuate that the basis for existence, knowledge, and life involves the multiplicitous value of “nature.” Ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural processes are the foundation for the survival of life. Philosophically speaking, “nature” is widely viewed as the fundamental essence that defines our universe, the underlying principle of existence. Scientific advancement is made possible starting with a basic knowledge of the underlying microscopic and macroscopic phenomena of observable natural processes. Nature’s balance, harmony, and cycles are a source of moral and spiritual guidance, fundamental to many cultures and belief systems.

Now we come to the artist who, since primitive human, has used this multiplicitous “nature” to sculpt collective ideologies, philosophies, and narratives through artistic production – gathering the principles of “nature,” interpreting and transforming them, presenting them in the form of various movements, aesthetics, and styles, and shaping the way that societies understand and interact with the world around them. The roles that art and nature play in the totality of our understood and yet-to-be understood reality are profound.

…And here I am painting landscapes in my living room. Contributing to the societal fabric with a blog and a painting of a tree.👍

Additionally, in my writing, I refer to nature as ‘Nature’ for a couple reasons. One being that the concept of nature is so confounding that I give it respect by capitalizing the “N.” The other being that I have free will and do what I want, so I put the word in single quotations (‘ ‘) because I feel the emphasis adds visual reverence.

OVERTONES AND UNDERTONES

When it came to naming this blog, I wanted to convey multidisciplinary depth and value.

Overtones

Overtones, in their most general sense, refer to additional elements or nuances that accompany a primary component. In music, this is a higher frequency sound resonating along with a fundamental sound (the main note). These harmonics enrich the sound, giving it depth and complexity. With visual art, overtones can be represented by visible elements, to include the primary subjects, vibrant colors, and bold lines that immediately catch the viewer’s eye. Overtones also represent the dominant themes and messages in an artwork or piece of literature. In terms of painting technique, overtones refer to the dominant hues that overlay other colors. They can represent the more obvious, visible connections in nature as well. The interdependence between plants and pollinators (like bees and flowers) is an overtone. We can clearly see how these interactions shape ecosystems. The various components of an ecosystem work together to maintain balance and stability. When it comes to human nature, overtones are the personality traits, behaviors, expressed emotions, actions, roles, and identities of a person.

Undertones

Undertones are subtle nuances or underlying elements that are not immediately obvious but contribute to the overall perception and depth of something. In music, they are the lower frequency sounds that are subtle and often not as easily perceived. They add richness and subtlety to the overall sound. With visual art, these could be fine details, background textures, or hidden symbols that enhance the overall meaning of the work. Undertones symbolize the subtle, often unseen connections that still play a crucial role in maintaining balance. Biodiversity, chemical signals, ecological interactions, and soil/microorganism health are some undertones in nature that are relatively unseen yet provide essential balance to the ecosystem. Many ecological interactions occur at a microscopic level or within complex food webs that we do not immediately perceive. These hidden dependencies are the undertones of nature, providing a foundation for the more apparent interactions. Just as undertones in nature are not always visible, undertones in art represent deeper, often hidden meanings that require contemplation and interpretation. These could include cultural references, emotional subtext, or personal symbolism from the artist. Subtle traits - such as inner thoughts, feelings, and unconscious influence - along with implicit motivations and drives - such as intrinsic values, emotional needs, and personal experience - are considered undertones of a person’s nature.

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In my painting process, I begin with an underpainting. It not only provides a drawn foundation to render the image from but also establishes a base color that acts as an undertone which resonates through the painting in the end product. I might use a glaze (overtone) over various elements of the painting to unify the composition or convey a mood. An implicit undertone in my work is the anxiety I feel regarding the movement of time, typically demonstrated with my use of repetitive mark-making.

Just as in art, the interplay of overtones and undertones creates the richness of individual personalities and relationships. Recognizing this complexity allows for more empathetic and nuanced interactions with others. For personal growth, one should be aware of both their overtones (how they present themselves to the world) and their undertones (their inner motivations and unconscious influences). This self-awareness can lead to a more authentic and fulfilling life. This nexus highlights the complexity and balance within nature and the human experience. Understanding the overtones and undertones in nature encourages us to appreciate the exquisiteness of life.

This delicate, thoughtful balance interconnecting through our world is what this blog is all about.

Venus de Milo ‘on display’

at the Louvre in Paris, France. 2024

BLOG EXPECTATIONS

I’ve always found it difficult to keep up with posting on social media, and the last few months have been much more difficult as I’ve been focusing on staying present in my daily life to improve my art production and overall quality of life. It has been incredibly rewarding to wake up each morning excited to meet the day – to paint, tend to my plants, and explore the various interests I had choked out of my life due to the constant nagging of “how will I post this on Instagram?” I have been using social media as my main marketing tool for the last few years now, and it doesn’t seem to fit into my life the same way that it used to.

With that said, I will still maintain my Instagram profile but with much less vigor. I’m creating this space for my thoughts, research, musings, writing, and inspirations where I can speak more freely and share content in a more meaningful way.  

This will not be a “short form” blog about light topics. Nor will it have a set schedule for post publications. This is a documentation of my research, observations, and discussions about how a variety of topics interconnect under the wide umbrella meaning of ‘Nature’. This will end up being the explanation for my statement “Exploring our interconnectedness with ‘Nature,’ for my creative urge, my reflections on my life and ‘LIFE’, the yin to ‘LIFE’ which happens to be ‘DEATH’, among other things. I will explore ideas and research involving art, ethnobiology (the confounding and ever expansive study of the relationships between humans, animals, plants, and the environment), thanatology (things pertaining to death and the cultural perspectives and practices revolving around death – and therefore life), my personal interconnectedness with nature through my gardening and outdoor experiences, travel, and much more – All pertaining to my art and the impetus for my creativity.

Additionally, I’m starting a Glossary that can be found on the blog landing page. I will consistently update it since I plan to use occasional jargon and smart words simply to exercise my vocabulary. And, because I’m slightly unhinged, I’ll be adding interesting words that I randomly come across as well. Words are valuable.

Content creation, algorithms, etc. are simply not for me. Creating to sell, with price points and timelines, has devalued my work (in my eyes) and has removed the artistic zest from my creative process. Scrolling culture deeply hinders me, not just artistically but in terms of my mental health as well. I’m privileged to have the opportunity to slow my pace and worry less about marketing my work – and worry less about the sales themselves. I understand many artists do not have the financial means, physical space, resources, or time to even consider creating in this way.

This world – this societal grind we’re all a part of – is taking its toll on everyone. It’s all a cycle. Hardship and prosperity exist at the same time, life is a comedy in that way. Sometimes, social media spreads negative news in such a viral manner that it hinders hope rather than galvanizing it. I’ve noticed that spending less time online allows me to maintain hope while staying up to date. I don’t need to see endless images of destruction to understand the message.

In an effort to push the depth of my art, 2025 will be a year of contemplation with an intentional focus on creating at my own pace, on the intimacy of my communities, and on the nuances of my life. With these changes, I hope to hone my career confidence, share my skills and knowledge in a more meaningful way, harness the flames of my passions, and make more space to learn.

I’ll probably continue the blog whether there is engagement or not, as I already write about these topics for myself. I think publishing some of that would provide depth and clarity to my overall art process, along with demonstrating a little personal authenticity.

I will send an email notification and post on Instagram when each blog entry is published.

In the future: Please grab a glass of your favorite wine, a nice chocolate, a quality coffee, or anything you enjoy for its indulgent nature, and appreciate it slowly as you read my blog.  

SO

Now that we have prepared the garden, started building the house, began a family, created a healthy and prosperous lifestyle, joined a community, eternalized a culture, and prepared arrangements for our death… we can become artists of life: crafting our existence with intention and transforming everyday moments into meaningful experiences.

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REFERENCES

Rank, Otto (1932). Art and Artist: Creative Urge and Personality Development. Norton.