WRITING IS PAINTING? PAINTING IS WRITING?

Ashok Silwal
Cover Art: Guillaume APOLLINAIRE in ‘Calligrammes’- 1880-1918

Is there a difference between painting and writing?
You read a book as you read a picture … and upstream…?
Are the palette and the canvas different from the ink and the page?
I am not a painter; I should be a writer.
I’m not able to paint but I like looking at the arrangement
Of colors and forms like words and phrases.

I like to immerse myself in a landscape,
In a face, informs without shapes,
I like looking at meaningful details,
I like to experience emotions through colors and words,
I like writing, choosing the right words
Arranging them, diving into the stories or ideas.

Are these two creative activities ‘sisters?’

Yes: they both convey Art.

Mind and heart proceed the same way.
The common language is that of Art.
Words, colors, shapes are techniques
That allows access to the Eternal, to the Absolute,
The essence of Creation….

When invention, exaltation, enthusiasm, that inexplicable inspiring force
Brings you to Knowledge, to the platonic ‘Idea.’
The heart becomes Art.
The outward appearance leads you to a profound meaning
Where Art reaches religion.

Painting and writing, then, interact and dialogue
With music, with photography, with sculpture….
All at the service of understanding and expressing the Truth.
THE BRUSH BECOMES A PEN, THE PEN BECOMES A BRUSH.
Words and phrases are colors and shapes,
Colors and shapes are words and phrases.

So: Writing is painting? Painting is writing?
The techniques are different, the message is the same.
Maybe painting means communicating quickly, suddenly, instantly.
Maybe writing means communicating slowly page after page,
A blocky communication in small doses.

Enjoy READING both!