This past week while in Austria I heard a thought-filled lecture on the subject of beauty. I have been interested in this subject for quite some time and was pleased with the opportunity to expand my thinking on the subject. The presenter, Jim Parker from Southern Seminary University aimed to show that beauty is in fact not a relativist concept, but rather an objective, universal property. He put forth the argument that beauty, like goodness and morality is an objective truth that is inseparable from the God of all creation. The consistent pursuit of that which is beautiful is an indication that humanity has an unquenchable desire to know and behold beauty. If we think of beauty as being a dynamic of God then Sartre’s notion of having “a God-sized hole in my heart” makes sense of our “beauty seeking” as part of a larger spiritual search.

Parker went on to make the statement that “beauty” as the old adage goes is not simply skin deep, but rather “’pretty’ is skin deep and beauty goes through to the soul.” He continued on by saying that everyone longs to behold and encounter beauty, but we are never satisfied because the beauty, which is created by man, is never ultimately complete.

He went on to say that our creations are like the aroma that alerts us of the impending richness of a delicious meal. Our creations (aroma) are not the thing that brings full satisfaction, but it is the meal (our relation to God) that satisfies us completely.

During a discussion following the lecture, Joe Kickasola, associate professor at Baylor University, offered a position that seemed to me to be the middle road between universalism (absolute) and relativism (non-absolute). He talked of beauty as a dynamic not a property of a thing. In this way, beauty is not necessarily easily definable, or universal but it is a dynamic that points us to something greater than ourselves. Beauty seems to be generated from the truthfulness of a thing – the transparency.

The sky is beautiful because it is the sky – it is not trying to appear that it is something it is not. Thinking of beauty in this way makes me wonder if it is possible for artists to create beauty if it is not born from the truth that resides in them?

I was honored to have an opening reception in Austria for the installation of my newest work. With the help of a couple other artists/conference members I was able to create a couple of site-specific pieces that enlivened the historic space and complemented the paintings I had brought from my studio in Walla Walla.

Tom from the Netherlands and Daniel from Austria assisted me in the formation of an installation created from earth and stone which figured prominently in the exhibition. We moved wheelbarrows full of soil and rocks from a nearby meadow and arranged it into a large semi-flat circle on the old wooden floor of the exhibition space in the Schloss Mittersill castle. The piece was lit with a strong spotlight from above. It extended the forms that I have been working with in paintings and glass installations. It also inspired me to continue my thoughts of mortality and my deeper spiritual search.

When the exhibition opened and people filed into the room they were quite unsure how to interact in the space with the large earthen form that impeded the route of normal foot traffic. After a brief time of uneasiness over the unexpected installation the conversations and champagne began to flow which turned the evening into a truly memorable and festive event.

After a long journey from Seattle to Munich I finally arrived at Schloss Mittersill in Austria for their summer arts conference. For the next week I will mount an exhibition of new work and conduct a seminar on painting. I’ll be posting new images and written entries throughout the entire conference, so check in from time to time to see and hear about what’s going on over here.

The focus of my seminar is translating external seeing to internal artistic vision. The aim of the seminar is to help others experience new ways of liberating their internal notions into a competent, visual format. We’ll look specifically at formal devices used in painting (color, line, form and design) and will try to develop new ways of using them to infuse a greater personal energy and narrative into the work. My hope is that the participants will feel the freedom and confidence necessary to move beyond the simple “recording” of what they see to the expression of what they feel in the context of what they are see.

Artists (visual artists, musicians, illustrators, writers, etc) from around the world have traveled to this place to find support and encouragement from like-minded souls. The community here is so energetic and welcoming – the atmosphere is quite electric. There is an obvious hunger in all of the attendees to express themselves freely in a safe and accepting community. Schloss Mittersill is that community.