You may be aware of a condition called "Selective Mutism."?This
is where children are afraid or unable to speak out.?Shy and
silent at school, they are often normal at home or with others
they know and trust.?It's a rare condition related to social
anxiety that sometimes carries over into adulthood.?Sufferers
are often creative and artistic.?

I've always been interested in the relationship between the use
of words and the private world of hands-on creativity.?A lot of
us have found that too much talk kills projects and neutralizes
the need to accomplish.?It seems that monks and nuns who have
taken vows of silence have clearer concentration and the
facility for steady work or study.?While talk can stimulate and
even motivate, it can also take a toll.?I sometimes run into
folks who talk about art so much--and everything else as
well--that I know there will never be much of a place for art in
their lives.?My alarm sounds the loudest when they talk
brilliantly about the art they're going to do.

Is it possible, I ask myself, that by simply blocking the mouth,
expression might be more likely to come out of the hands??Is it
possible that some would-be artists are just talking too much??

Here's an exercise that certain artists will find golden.?It's
called "Voluntary Mutism."?Choose a four-hour period.?Permit
no human intercourse--unplug the phone and snuff the email.?Put
a sign on the door.?Arrange for a terminal event such as an
alarm or a timely shout from a true friend.?With soft or
ambient music only, let yourself loose in a space of verbal
deprivation.?This goes for self-talk too--and it takes a bit of
practice.?There can be no mouthing, aloud or silent, of
personal plights or anxieties.?You can do this by concentrating
on good nouns like "umber" and "filbert."?It's amazing how many
nouns you can find just lying around the studio, ready to be
picked up and flicked about.?Just concentrate for four little
hours on the business of making stuff.?It's not like you're
going into solitary for twenty years.?If you must speak, do it
with your animal.?Try to use nouns like "rough" and "bark."
It's better that way, and the animal understands how you're
trying to improve.?She's really a mute too.?That may be why
she's so highly evolved.

Best regards,

Robert

PS: "The stronger and more intense my desire becomes to capture
and record that which is unsayable, the more tightly my mouth
stays shut." (Max Beckmann) "Be as one that knoweth and yet
holdeth his tongue." (Ecclesiasticus) "Create, artist, do not
talk." (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

Esoterica: Art teachers who would also be artists have unique
challenges.?Coming down after a day of words may take a
decompression chamber.?For some, a meal, a change of clothes,
or a blast of loud music does the trick.?For others, a darkened
room with a concentrated Zen-like mantra may be necessary.?Some
art instructors find a daily transition to the worker mode
almost impossible and must wait for holidays or sabbaticals.
Others are stimulated by the interaction in classes and are able
to take added joy to their private process.