The Totalmente Zen Art of Lisa Brunetti
by
Patricia Adams Farmer
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No Standing Back. (This is Ecuador!)
On New Year's Eve, we expats from the U.S. and Canada and local Ecuadorian friends, looked forward to bringing in 2013 together, along with Ecuadorian foods, Chilean wine, and new Ecuadorian customs. To add to the celebration, our party hosts would be unveiling their new painting by the much-celebrated artist, Lisa Brunetti. The artist herself would also to be in attendance. How exciting! As a guest, I had imagined standing back to study the new work of an artist who draws crowds in museum showings throughout Ecuador. Yes, that's what I envisioned: standing back, sipping Chilean wine, nibbling a little cheese, and applauding the unveiling of great art. . . . |
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But here in Ecuador, nothing is how you envision it; surprise rules the day, and there is no such things as "standing back." Yes, the artist was present, and yes, the painting was there in all its glory. Except that it was not yet finished. The main design was certainly there, a large, brilliantly executed pre-Columbian design which filled most of the canvas, but the uncolored winding border design stared back at me with a deliberate beckoning. Friends and neighbors were actually standing at the painting, working on the border with brushes dipped in watercolor. I was confused—and a little worried.
Much to my horror, I, too, was given a brush and asked to paint. Everyone present was asked to participate—"just thirty seconds!" Yeah, sure. I could do a lot of damage in thirty seconds. With fear and trembling I began, but soon relaxed—long past thirty seconds—with the artist by my side, encouraging me, guiding me, catching my drips and fixing my mishaps with a cloth. There was no pressure, only a guiding design and an encouraging artist whose eyes never left my brush as it caressed the canvass and moved gently through the maze of lines.
Much to my horror, I, too, was given a brush and asked to paint. Everyone present was asked to participate—"just thirty seconds!" Yeah, sure. I could do a lot of damage in thirty seconds. With fear and trembling I began, but soon relaxed—long past thirty seconds—with the artist by my side, encouraging me, guiding me, catching my drips and fixing my mishaps with a cloth. There was no pressure, only a guiding design and an encouraging artist whose eyes never left my brush as it caressed the canvass and moved gently through the maze of lines.
Totalmente Zen
So, what is a serious artist whose art appears in some the finest museums in the country, doing with blundering neophytes such as myself? What if I messed up her work? Painting on her painting—even if just the border—is hard concept to grasp. But Brunetti paints outside the lines when it comes to her philosophy of energy and art. She seems to know, with that artist's special sense, when a particular work of art calls out for other energies to be added to her own. Such was the case with our friends' painting. She explained it to me this way: "We all leave traces of ourselves; tiny bits of our soul linger behind and continue to touch others. By having others help with a group painting, those energies will forever be embedded in that work."
With such a philosophy, it is no wonder she has created workshops centering on group painting called, "I Can Do This!" In these workshops held in Panama, Costa Rica and Ecuador, she calls for even more involvement, with a view to creating artists as well as art.
With such a philosophy, it is no wonder she has created workshops centering on group painting called, "I Can Do This!" In these workshops held in Panama, Costa Rica and Ecuador, she calls for even more involvement, with a view to creating artists as well as art.
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With each participant working a single group painting, she encourages timid painters to let go of their left brain, empower their right brain, and paint in the flow of that calm energy. She hands them a brush and asks them--with her persuasive smile--to "just try it for five minutes."
Usually Brunetti creates the overall design, while the colors, which flow in a path, are filled in by the participants. During the process Brunetti guides, encourages, and empowers each participant. She knows what the painter might not know: that after five minutes, their left brain "gets sleepy" and the right brain "steps forward." Within half an hour, the painter usually finds herself in a deep meditative state or as she says, "totalmente zen!" However—and this is important—the painter needs to understand that perfection is not the goal. In fact, Brunetti believes that perfection makes the painting too stiff. Thus, the painting lives and moves and has its being from the creative energies of a multitude of imperfect artists. |
Mola for Meditation
Whether a group painting or a solo work, Brunetti's art reaches deeply—and immediately—into the human spirit. When in the presence of her art, something happens in the brain of receptive people, a kind of archetypal connection that reaches back to primal days when nature and humanity lived as one. Some say they actually sense the painting vibrating with energy.
Brunetti's Mola series—always in a state of evolution, she reminds me—brings together her love of pre-Columbian artifacts with the brilliant designs inspired by Mola textile art from Kuna Indians of Panama and Columbia. In her ten years of living and traveling in Central and South America, she has found herself luxuriating for hours in museums, absorbing the beauty, mystery, and even humor of ancient carvings of pre-Columbian Indians. She would sit and sketch likenesses of the artifacts in her notebook or on an envelope or even on a paper napkin.
Her collection of sketches lay dormant until the day she discovered Mola textile art and began experimenting with Mola on canvass. The marriage of these two passions—Indian artifacts and Mola design—birthed a fresh new experience of beauty in the world, one that is totalmente zen and totalmente Brunetti. Hers is a life affirming art that centers one in the earth, in nature, in archetypal history, and in oneself. Her art simply makes one happy.
Brunetti's Mola series—always in a state of evolution, she reminds me—brings together her love of pre-Columbian artifacts with the brilliant designs inspired by Mola textile art from Kuna Indians of Panama and Columbia. In her ten years of living and traveling in Central and South America, she has found herself luxuriating for hours in museums, absorbing the beauty, mystery, and even humor of ancient carvings of pre-Columbian Indians. She would sit and sketch likenesses of the artifacts in her notebook or on an envelope or even on a paper napkin.
Her collection of sketches lay dormant until the day she discovered Mola textile art and began experimenting with Mola on canvass. The marriage of these two passions—Indian artifacts and Mola design—birthed a fresh new experience of beauty in the world, one that is totalmente zen and totalmente Brunetti. Hers is a life affirming art that centers one in the earth, in nature, in archetypal history, and in oneself. Her art simply makes one happy.
Mola invites us to come inside the design and follow its primary-colored path to a sense of wholeness and joy that we once experienced as children. As I gaze at her designs, I feel as though I'm walking the path of a colorful labyrinth, one that lures me forward in an encouraging, gentle way, toward the center of things. It was the same on the day of the group painting: the artist herself urged me forward with encouragement and guidance as my quivering brush glided shyly though the design path.
Surely, You Don't Mean . . . .
"Ceibo Loco" Group Painting
Brunetti’s most daring Mola group painting happened at the opening reception of her Mola Series at Museo Cancebi in Manta, Ecuador. This was not an organized workshop, but rather a hundred or so unsuspecting people, just like me on New Year's Eve: anticipating the wine, the cheese, the comfortable "standing back" pose.
But again, this is Ecuador; this is Lisa Brunetti. The person introducing her, an Ecuador attorney, took one look at the unfinished painting and said, “You are NOT going to do what I think . . . are you?” She simply smiled and said, “Of course.”
She said that later, she wondered if she had lost her mind, but the painting turned out to be “powerfully crazy with great energy.” She calls it “Ceibo Loco” and was her her gift to the museum.
But again, this is Ecuador; this is Lisa Brunetti. The person introducing her, an Ecuador attorney, took one look at the unfinished painting and said, “You are NOT going to do what I think . . . are you?” She simply smiled and said, “Of course.”
She said that later, she wondered if she had lost her mind, but the painting turned out to be “powerfully crazy with great energy.” She calls it “Ceibo Loco” and was her her gift to the museum.
Art in Process
As a process philosopher, I naturally see much to celebrate in Brunetti's work, for it speaks without words about the nature of things in a relational world.
We, in the process world, often speak of relational well-being of the whole. Whitehead called his own development of process thought, the philosophy of organism. A good term, organism. For process thought is a way of seeing the full vitality of relations, where every part of the organism is important, vital, working together with as much intense harmony as possible. Beauty emerges out of such relations, which explains the wonder of the human body, the pelican, the cat, the butterfly, the earth itself.
We, in the process world, often speak of relational well-being of the whole. Whitehead called his own development of process thought, the philosophy of organism. A good term, organism. For process thought is a way of seeing the full vitality of relations, where every part of the organism is important, vital, working together with as much intense harmony as possible. Beauty emerges out of such relations, which explains the wonder of the human body, the pelican, the cat, the butterfly, the earth itself.
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Many process thinkers, including the famous philosopher, Alfred North Whitehead, believe in a relational God—the Poet, the Artist of the Universe—who is in the butterfly, yet more than the butterfly. This intimate, seductive God lures butterflies and all creation toward well-being and creative harmony.
The artist filled with love is a good metaphor for how God works in the world, and especially an artist who believes in harnessing the energies of others. In the process of on-going creation, God works, not alone—never alone—but with the innate energies within all creation to bring about fresh harmonies and new forms of beauty. There is no standing back! Mistakes are made, sometimes even tragic ones. Creation does not always follow the design of this loving lure. But even in tragedy, when errant paint smears the beauty away, the Divine Artist is present, ready to re-paint, re-design, re-create out of mess. As Whitehead says, "The Adventure of the universe starts with a dream, and reaps tragic beauty." And in the process, new forms of beauty arise. Creative transformation is art writ large. We are each handed a brush and asked to participate in the ongoing creation of the world. The Cosmic Artist lures us on, encourages us, empowers us; and in the process of contributing to the whole, we come to the center of our true selves. We accept the divine invitation to be co-creators in the Cosmic Painting for the sake of the earth, for the sake of beauty, for the sake of all living creatures. And what we do—what we paint—matters; its imprint is forever. As Brunetti says, "It is our duty to leave behind the best of our essence." Such is true of art and life. |
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NOTE: The photographs on this page are copyrighted by Lisa Brunetti. They were used with her permission. For
more on Brunetti's Mola Series, along with painting names and an in-depth look at how each work evolved, go to PRECOLUMBIAN MOLA SERIES. To connect with the artist herself and read more about her on-going projects, go to her award-winning blog: Zeebra Designs and Destinations .
Patricia Adams Farmer is the author of Embracing a Beautiful God and The Metaphor Maker. She and her husband, Ron, are process thinkers and writers living on the north central coast of Ecuador. You can follow their ongoing Ecuadorian adventures at Life at Latitude Zero and her process-oriented novel writing adventures at Fat Soul Fridays.
