Picasso and Rock Art

Picasso once said about all of the amazing cave art in Europe, "None of us could paint like that." When I read this, it felt so true to me that it triggered me. I got irritated about it. Why is it that we "modern" people can't paint or create like they did more than 35,000 years ago? What did they have that we don't?

I am reading a fascinating book called, "The Mind and the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art," by David Lewis-Williams. So far a lot of the book has been about the history of science, evolution, the battles that ensued over it, Paleolithic history, theories that were embraced only to be abandoned, and finally he is going to get to the reason why he believes we create art. In the book there are several beautiful plates and pictures of the cave art, which they call parietal art in Europe. It is amazing! It is inspiring! And it is so free of any type of inhibition, limitation, or care for judgment! That is when I realized what Picasso was getting at; that is what they had that we don't have today.

Our world is filled with judgement. Things are cast into two categories: good or bad. Artwork that goes into the good category is saved, protected, bought and maybe one day put into a museum. Art that some think is bad is labeled with all sorts of colorful words, destroyed, or simply ignored. Artists of today paint with the hope of being liked and appreciated. If their ego is in full swing, they are hoping to find a lot of appreciation by the name of fame. In so doing, we imprison ourselves. We don't realize how much we limit our creativity, our version of storytelling the moment we seek praise.

That is what we are and have been for thousands of years; artists are storytellers. Those ancient Paleolithians as well as the Ancestral Puebloans weren't painting "art for art's sake", they were sharing their stories. First of all, I can't stand that term about art...."art for art's sake." Art is never created for so flimsy of a reason. You can go up to any artist and ask them about why they painted what they did, and a story will be revealed to you.

What always flabbergasts me is how long it has taken scientists to realize that so much of this "art" on cave walls, rock faces, rocks, etc. is about their rich, spiritual lives. Yes, it is shamanic art at its very beginning.

What did these artists have that I don't have? Well, I can tell you as a person with family on a reservation and having lived there, when we have a vision, it is never judged. The thought of judging a vision someone tells is beyond our comprehension. It is recognized, supported, and assisted in bringing it forward into the life of the vision recipient. The recipient is not trying to seek approval. On the contrary, the recipient is quite humble about it all. It is a gift from Spirit. How could one not be?

My guess is that the people that created this amazing art through the centuries either showed talent early or received a vision that they were to be the storytellers for their people; an amazing honor and responsibility. Their people supported this without any kind of judgment, so the artist/storyteller could create with absolute freedom. Every stroke or peck was done with a prayer as my Unci taught me to do not too long ago. He or she was not seeking anyone's approval....simply sharing their experiences for the future generations, and this is why Picasso said what he said.

Within our current society, I do not believe anyone can create or paint the way they did. Maybe this is why I began this journey to discover the way back to this sacred and old way of expression....maybe it isn't about the art at all....Maybe it is about finding that freedom within myself, and no longer worrying about what anyone thinks. So many times people have walked into my booth stating that I must suffer from schizophrenia or do copious amounts of LSD to work with the color the way I do. At times, yes, it has hurt. Most of the time I ignore it or laugh, but I do believe that something deep within me listens a little more than I want myself to. I would love to express Spirit in the way that they once did with the freedom that they did. I think this is a journey about tearing down my own personal prison that I really wasn't aware of until recently.