A beautiful landscape: a beautiful house
Photograph: Juan Bielsa
It is a very good thing to have true friends, but it is wonderful as well to have another "friend": "our" landscape, a landscape that we love.
A beautiful landscape on this Earth is more valuable and interesting than Mars and Venus combined. But (alas!) politicians don't know that...
Juan Bielsa
Sweet Fairy - Painting by Juan Bielsa
Oil on canvas, 54 x 65 cm
© Juan Bielsa
1,900 €
Walt Whitman said that he could see God in the faces of people. What a wonderful poetic thought! And how true!
One of the most beautiful faces I remember is the face of my grandmother. Yes, she was old and its forehead was full of wrinkles. for example. But her face was full of beauty as well, full of spirit.
On the other hand, there are women who have an extraordinary beauty full of freshness, an expression of youth. But this beauty can be (and is) an ephemeral mirror. A wonderful, transient mirror.
For me (an artist), beautiful faces and bodies are above all an artistic matter. Why? Because these "things" are terribly fragile in this material world. Only art and poetry and Love are eternal.
The other day, I heard a woman saying on the radio than women's faces are poetical. I agree. Maybe women can find men's faces poetic, I don't know. Basically, I find poetry in women's faces, an expression of an Eternal Beauty.
Juan Bielsa
Dancing - Drawing by Juan Bielsa
© Juan Bielsa
Lately I don't write very often in this blog. Certainly it may be called "a silent blog".
Some professional translations (from Spanish to Catalan) and other works have kept me away from it, and the same can be said of my blogs in other languages.
A silent blog... Well, that's not so bad. I love silence and contemplation, so... Among millions and millions of interferences and noises of all kind in this world, silence is positive many times. At least I need silence.
There are here in Spain wonderful landscapes everywhere. People mostly like "spectacular" landscapes, like the famous Pyrenees. But there are also humble, modest, unknown spots where one can find many wonders as well, a house for the soul. They are silent, very few look at them carefully, with the heart. But you can find a profound beauty there. We need that kind of paradises as well, I think.
And the same can be said of art... There are many famous paintings and painters; everybody knows them. They have a name... But there are also unknown paintings very beautiful, full of truth and beauty, like an honest beautiful woman, like silent valleys full of calm and God, full of flowers like diamonds and love, ideals as support for meditation, to investigate our true self. And maybe this kind of art, silent and full of Spirit, is the only true art that merit that name these days, the last true art that survives in this world of ours.
Juan Bielsa
Magellan's Land
Oil on board, 70.5 x 49 cm
© Juan Bielsa
One of the most powerful tools we have in this world to achieve our dreams and objectives is FOCUS.
If we consistently focus on one aspect of our life that we want to manifest and reinforce, in due time our life will be different according to that attitude and concentration: we will have more and more ot that on which we have focused our attention.
For example, if we honestly focus on wealth, probably we won't be wealthy in one, three, nine months... But we have now a very solid foundation, and in due course some sort of phenomena according to our focused thought will be revealed.
I think art is very powerful in this respect. A painting is basically made for contemplation and thus concentration. The magical force of a great painting, a masterpiece, is inexhaustible. It is now a proved scientific fact that different colors affect us in different and powerful ways. So... what could be said of a powerful work of art!
We establish an emotional dialogue with a painting that we love, just the same as we establish relationships with people. Our friends, acquaintances... have a tremendous influence on us. In the same way, a painting can be a real friend of us, it is a spiritual "being", or a very special "object" if you want. The colors, forms, rhythms... of a work of art are constantly communicating to us maybe beauty, maybe calm, maybe joy... an infinite array of messages and emotions. And as we grew older and we have more experiences in life, a loved painting grew older as well, and it becomes "wiser" in a sense, just because we are able now to listen more carefully to its message and subtleties.
Ultimately, a great painting is a wonderful tool to our meditations and evolution, it can be a powerful magical tool at our disposal. A good painting is like a good friend, a treasure that continually is enriching our existence, illuminating our paths.
Juan Bielsa
Red fairy
Oil on board, 60.5 x 76 cm
© Juan Bielsa
In my art femininity is very important. I don't think women are better than men, in general. But I do believe that values associated traditionally with women and femininity are the important ones in this era. Over the years I think my vision of things has become "more feminine". Or at least I live and think this way: I love nature, I love animals, I try to listen and be humble (although I fail many times). Family is very important for me, and I like to take care of little, valuable things, and I dislike violence even in games, and certainly I'm not a possessive person...
It is hard to explain, but I think my contemplative view of things has a feminine side. And my artistic creations reflect that point of view. I understand a certain feminine world and I don't understand a world of men. Maybe my "feminine world" is not real, that may be true as well. I don't care. That is the world I love. Each person has its origins, its influences. In my life the influence of Provence and troubadours is an essential one. In Ancient times, in Provence women were the center of the universe, women and the idea of femininity. And socially and politically their role were very, very important.
In my art there are some clues, among them contemplation and femininity. In my works, these two aspects are the same. For me contemplation is the supreme happiness, but it needs femininity, it needs the freshness of life and love, it needs a supreme beauty, an inner beauty and the beauty of dreams.
I paint fairies, I paint sphinxes, I paint an idealized beauty that can convey this idea: meditation and freedom, absolute happiness, a paradise. Paradise, for me, is contemplation and love, and women have a lot to say about these two things. My passion for colors and forms is fully feminine. My passion for love and romanticism is fully feminine. Even my vision of religion is entirely feminine. My art... is in some way very feminine. "Unrealistically" feminine I would say.
I think this world of ours, in this time of absolute disaster, needs the full potential of women, needs the vision of women, needs the solutions of women, needs women who are not afraid of being fully themselves. Because we need, I think, femininity. We need love and compassion, we need the inner forces of the universe to work for a better future. The future, clearly, is feminine.
I don't usually say this, but I must say that I love this painting of mine, I love this "being", this red fairy. So if someone loves her like I do, I would be happy. The price of the painting is symbolic. If you love it, it can be yours, don't pay too much attention to the money. I you love it, if you love this "red fairy" she can be your woman of the infinite. Only in this case I could "sell" her. I love her like a symbol of freedom, like a love of my youth.
Juan Bielsa
The way of the stars
Oil on board, 60.7 x 48.5 cm
© Juan Bielsa
I remember when I painted "The way of the stars". Some paintings are the result of a sort of magic. I painted this work like dancing. There was no conscious effort, no struggle. Just the forms appeared naturally. I did not make any correction. In one day the painting was done, like emerging from the land of rhythm.
For me the most important part of making art is mental preparation, meditation, playing mentally with colors, silence. If we have the necessary skills and techniques, when inspiration comes, we are ready to undertake the process of "materialising" Spirit into forms. I do believe in hard work, but the same I do believe in inspiration. The best of my poems have been done in this way. In ancient China the best painters had a similar approach into art. They produced in this way immortal paintings; there is Spirit on them. And it is the same in Zen.
Juan Bielsa