refuge /ˈrɛfjuːdʒ/n
- shelter or protection, as from the weather or danger
- any place, person, action, or thing that offers or appears to offer protection, help, or relief
Etymology: 14th Century: via Old French from Latin refugium, from refugere to flee away, from re- + fugere to escape
I think of painting as a refuge but instinctively object to the word ‘protection’ in this definition. Instead, I find very fitting the idea of ‘help’ and ‘relief’. For me, the action of painting involves a process which requires a distance from ordinary, everyday actions like eating, reading or cleaning the bathroom. These activities could also be considered ‘refuge’ being forms of relief from hunger, reality and disorder respectively. The action of painting on the other hand offers relief for me from the oppressing aspects of ‘time’.
Painting has no ‘time’. When I paint, I am fully in the present. My eyes and body movements are in synch with the passing moment of the sunlight radiating and reflecting on objects in my view. I observe and investigate the relationships of the colours and forms as they change before my eyes. The time spent before the canvas with colours and brushes is my refuge from the very nature of ‘time’ with all of its devastating demands.
My being is permeated by the present while I am painting. The past drops its burden from my shoulders and the future vanishes from my mind. I am alone and I observe the vibration from light which is life itself. Timeless. The gigantic effort to be in harmony with this energy is reflected in the residue of the movements I make with colours and brushes. The moment is irreplaceable and unique and only I have those eyes which witness it. Magically, a painting is created which also mirrors, however poorly that moment.[whohit]-Painting and SolitudeII_EN-[/whohit]
