I’ve been thinking about art a lot lately– you know how I do– and the word intensity. Last weekend I attended Denver Film’s Women+Film festival. I saw seven movies over the three days of the festival. Really that’s too many movies in too few days if you ask moi, but despite the headache induced by watching so many movies in a row, it was fun and inspiring. One of the films that I’ve been thinking about is a documentary following five Colorado artists. In their studios, they sit down to talk about process, reason, meaning, art, and life. All of my favorite things! Non vraiment, I could listen to artists talk about their “craft” all day long. I love their attention to detail, to the little things that seem insignificant, I love to hear about their aspirations and inspirations, and I’ll say it, I love their intensity.
One of the artists followed in the documentary is Kim Dickey. I felt especially connected to her since she was the only one on the verge of tears during her entire interview. Talking can be like that. Who am I kidding, being alive is like that. My eyes are but plastic pools with slow leaks.
Kim says in the documentary of her work, “making the work is processing everything that is important. It is understanding what I deeply care about.” I’ve heard this before from other artists when talking about their processes. Joan Didion, Elizabeth Gilbert, Nicole Kidman, Rick Rubin, and the list goes on. Can I add myself? This little thing I have, my Substack, is my way into deeper thinking. I don’t love everything I post, and many times I feel embarrassed by what I write, but to post anyway is my process. It is how I keep the promise of creativity to myself and to the universe. And anway, can the artist even look at herself in the mirror? Is she ever able to truly love what she sees? What I’m saying is that liking what she writes is (sometimes) irrelevant to the greater act of doing. And this all brings me back to intensity. Even though the root word is obviously “intense,” I thought maybe, breaking all the rules of whatever, it could also be “intent.” living in extreme feelings with purpose. What does it look like, to live fully, to create fully, and to love fully? Something like: a big life full of big emotions. Something like: process.
There it is; there you are.
XO,
Moi, Tess
Trust the process! I love your honesty ❤️