Narrow the Road

So I am thinking about something my friend Barbara said. She is teaching painters, an amazing painter herself, to cross over from being "realists" to "abstract" painters. I have never thought about this being a necessary thing to learn, but now that I am aware of it, it seems perfectly obvious.

Then I got to thinking about how that happens for musicians. A friend of mine, when he was in college, was told by his piano teacher that he needed to "make love" to the song he was playing in an effort to encourage his musicianship. With a blank stare, my friend was without context. He had never "made love" to a woman. Where was his reference, his experience?

With regard to my own college experience, my voice teacher would always encourage me to "take a risk." In retrospect,and only now, do I understand what she meant.

I also posed this question to a new friend of mine who boldly works as a chef. He thought the cross over occures for the culenary arts when one leaves the "classic" combinations (foods you know work well together) and begin to explore new flavors and textures you can't be sure work together.

An artist of any type needs to walk through, explore and be transformed at some time in their life if they want to experience the crossing over. This is the place where the artist begins to use the art instead of it using them. This is also the point where they explore the continuous feeling of vulnerability for the sake of their spirit.

It doesn't happen in a week. It happens when you fight through a broken heart or begin to love someone or something. It is different for each artist. And in each artist, it must happen.

"But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

(Matt 7:14)