# The Creative Act and the Spirit

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Bonnie Wilder, The Creative Act and the Spirit, Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1989, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> THE CREATIVE CIRCLE
> Art, Literature, and Music in Baha'i Perspective
> 
> Edited by Michael Fitzgerald
> 
> Kalimat Press
> Los Angeles
> •
> 
> First Edition
> 
> Copyright © 1989 by Kalimat Press
> All Rights Reserved
> 
> Manufactured in the United States of America
> 
> "Can Baha" Art Become Distinctive?"
> Copyright © 1989 by Ludwig Tuman
> All rights reserved
> 
> "Poetry and Self-Transformation"
> Copyright © 1988 by Association for Baba" Studies
> All rights reserved
> CONTENTS
> •• •
> Preface by Michael Fitzgerald ....... . ........... .                         V1l1
> 
> •
> Foreword by Charles Wolcott . ..... , , , , , , , • ••••...                    Xl
> 
> Poetry and Sell-Transformation
> by Roger White .................. ........ ..... .                              1
> 
> T he Creative Act and the Spirit
> by Bonnie Wilder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..    17
> 
> But . .. My Mother Was a Singer
> by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .           39
> 
> The Dilemma of the Artist: A Perspective
> on the Development of Baha'i Aesthetics
> by Anne Gordun Atkinson .. . ... .. ........ •••••..                          51
> 
> Can Baha'f Art Become Distinctive?
> by Ludwig Tuman . . .... . ....... ... .• . ••• . • .. . .                    97
> 
> The Artist As Citizen
> by Thomas Lysaght . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 121
> 
> Restating the Idealist Theory of Art
> by Geoffrey Nash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. 159
> 
> v
> BO     IE WILDER
> author, teacher, and painter.
> The Creative Act and the Spirit
> 
> by Bonnie Wilder
> 
> Introduction. On becoming a Baha'i over thirty years ago, I,
> like most other believers, continued the process I had begun
> as a seeker-exploring the Baha'i Writings as they applied
> to my own life. Until that time, the visual arts had always
> been my major focus. From then on they would share double-
> billing with the BaM'i Faith. Because I was convinced that
> both were vital I was soon to have a new problem-time
> management. Nonetheless, soon after my declaration, I be-
> gan a two-fold program. I continued my work as a painter,
> initiating a career in art education; and I began to discover
> and experience the never-ending facets of being a BaM'i.
> The following two-part essay is the result of my attempt
> to learn more about the connection between art and the
> Baha'i Teachings. As I delved into personal memories and
> books, I discovered that spiritual insights can emerge from
> any unlikely setting, such as an art classroom. I also learned,
> as so many others have before, that teachers are often taught
> by their students, and sometimes when they least expect it.
> 
> Hum Mike to Michelangelo. At about mid-point in my twenty-
> year career of teaching art in the public high schools of
> 
> 18     BOllnie Wilder
> 
> Houston, Mike Chisenhall made his appearance. A stocky,
> sandyá haired youth with freckles across his nose and a bit of
> defensive macho in his walk, Mike was rarely seen without
> a grin on his face. I soon learned his goal was to become a
> cartoonist. His hero was Michelangelo. He was glad that their
> names were almost the same.
> Mike could have easily passed through my class unremem-
> bered. Over the years, I have had more than four thousand
> students. After the first few semesters, they seemed to fall
> into a few general categories. Some were talented, but not
> serious about developing art abilities. Others took art because
> the class they really wanted to take was unavailable. Some
> chose art because they thought it would be so easy they
> wouldn 't have to work. (An opinion not shared by their
> teacher.) A great many students loved the class from the be-
> ginning. They came into the room ready to work feverishly
> until the bell rang, dampening their elated spirits, causing
> them to complain t he time was too short. They were my iná
> spiration as an art teacher, my raison d'etre. They are, for the
> most part, also the ones I remember best.
> Mike Chisenhall was not one of these. Because he loved
> cartooning so much, he was less than happy when other
> aspects of the art curriculum were covered . He fidgeted and
> talked with his neighbors . And despite his perennial happy
> grin, he would in due course get on his teacher's nerves. Still,
> I liked him. However, it was his response to a particular as-
> signment that fixed his image on my memory.
> Art education journals are replete with reasons school art
> programs are vital to the system. Some of the most quoted
> are development of manual dexterity and eye-hand coordinaá
> tion, improved self-image, a more balanced outlook on life,
> and the acquisition of skills for career and leisure time use.
> Another aspect, opportunity for creative selfáexpression, is
> also highly praised and is probably the most important of all.
> As a seasoned art educator, I accepted all of these as givens
> with little conscious thought.
> THE STAIRS AT MAZRA'!H
> by Bonnie Wilder, completed on her 1985 pilgrimage.
> ,
> 
> 20      Bonnie Wilder
> 
> It took Mike to bring the last one into particular focus,
> causing me to internalize the value that creative self-
> expression can hold for high school students. It was also Mike
> who, by trusting me enough to express himself honestly,
> brought home how closely the creative is related to what we
> as Baha'is refer to as spiritual awareness. (l refer to th.e fleet-
> ing, euphoric state one sometimes feels during a visit to the
> Holy Shrines, in the midst of intense prayer, or when a par-
> ticular state of detachment has been reached through
> sacrifice, and one's consciousness of self is thereby greatly
> lessened. Such moments of insight are often accompanied by
> an intense desire to give or share with others because of a felt
> outpouring of love.)
> The assignment at hand was indeed a special one. This
> chosen class of third and fourth year art students appeared
> deserving of such an opportunity. Collectively, they were
> about to design a group of major graphics which would be
> drawn in miniature form and then enlarged and transferred
> to the walls of the art room- the entire room, as well as sec-
> tions of the hall on each side of the entrance door. Enduring
> paint would be used, and the designs were expected to re-
> main in place for years. I had never entrusted a class with
> such a responsibility before, and they had certainly never had
> such an opportunity. After seven years in the same class-
> room, I looked forward eagerly to a new environment, im-
> aginative and color-charged. It never occurred to me to be
> afraid of what they might do.
> They took to it like ducks to water. To get started, each
> student chose part of the room, such as a display area, a
> major wall, a door, or the sink alcove, and worked out a rough
> sketch in colored pencil to express an individual idea. With
> a minimum of teacher input, all sketches were reviewed and
> discussed. Seven designs were selected by student vote. The
> originator of each design would serve as group leader for the
> others who would assist in carrying out the individual plans.
> There was a design representing each of the focal points in
> the class environment.
> The Creative Act and the Spirit       21
> 
> During most of this process, Mike sat at the back of the
> room, fitfully working with pencil and paper. Still bending
> over the submitted sketches, I realized J had momentarily for-
> gotten him. I looked up to ask how he was doing and noticed
> his face had taken on an unaccustomed seriousness. He was
> fidgeting again, but rather than talking with his neighbors,
> his attention was riveted to his work surface. Paper wads
> were everywhere, and he continued to push his pencil across
> yet another sheet. He gave me several quick glances, as
> though gauging my mood. His eyebrows formed question
> marks while he tried to muster what could pass for a smile.
> He was clearly very uncomfortable.
> "You're not going to like this. It's not what you asked for.
> It's crazy. Let me try something else." As I approached he
> tried to hide what appeared on the last sheet of paper. I was
> surprised to see that the result of his considerable effort was
> not the cartoon I had expected. It was not even a drawing.
> It was a string of words.
> More than mere phrases, Mike had composed a paragraph
> in which he summed up, in his unique way, the meaning art
> had for him. The total effect was so powerful and unexpected
> that, for a moment, I could not speak. Immediately, I knew
> I wanted to have the entire message on view in a prominent
> place, and I told Mike so. Stunned, he couldn't believe his
> idea had received such quick acceptance. He answered with
> enthusiasm, "Yes, ma'am'" His face glowed with an almost
> fierce delight.
> Most of the joy Mike felt came from the fact that he had
> risked expressing his deepest feelings about art and found a
> receptive audience, an experience not unlike a spiritual ex-
> change or sharing. He was unaccustomed , I am sure, to dis-
> cussing abstract concepts. In fact, I doubt if he had ever
> attempted communication of this kind about art before. En-
> dowed with a small vocabulary, he was not at all the sort of
> student likely to be judged an "intellectual" by most people.
> In fact, his I.Q. was probably average. He would have been
> far more at home cheering at a football game than sitting in
> THE SHRINE OF THE BM3
> by Bonnie Wilder, completed on her 1985 pilgrimage.
> The Creative Act and the Spirit       23
> 
> a library. He had simply put down his own words. althoulZh
> somewhat awkwardly. What they lacked in perfection of
> style, they compensated for with sincerity, courage, and gut-
> level truth. This was a fellow not lacking in male pride whose
> desire to express himself had overruled caution on this occa-
> sion. Those who have had frequent contact with seventeen-
> year-old boys in a peer-group environment can understand
> what Mike accomplished.
> The transformation of the room required eight weeks. At
> the conclusion, a reporter and photographer from a leading
> newspaper were on the scene to record the results in the fOlln
> of a major feature article.
> As we had planned, arrows proved to be an appropriate mo-
> tif in many of the designs, because their symbolism easily
> suggested the multi-directional nature of creative output. A
> major attraction was the fifteen-foot rainbow which began
> high and narrow at the left edge of a wall to allow for audio-
> visual projection on the white space beneath, looped around
> the ever-present school clock, and widened on its downward
> approach to the bottom right comer of the same wall. Tur-
> quoise clouds and a yellow sun rested on the top edge of the
> rainbow near the center. Around the comer, nearby in the
> sink alcove, a huge faucet appeared, spouting a stream of
> water, ending in large drops above the splashboard of the
> counter. This six-foot design repeated the deep, rich pastel
> colors used throughout-pink, orange, turquoise, yellow, and
> lettuce green. Strong arrows pointed to the sink and the trash
> can, carrying the words. HKeep it clean," as a continuing
> reminder to future hurrying students. Oversized lettering on
> the doors and display areas tied the whole together for a
> sophisticated, upbeat, yet unabashedly cheerful atmosphere.
> It was usually as the viewer turned back toward the door
> to leave that Mike's contribution was noticed. Then it took
> center stage. At the beginning of the project, before any of
> the graphics were applied to the walls, the entire room had
> been painted a fresh milky white. However, since Mike
> THE MANSION AT BAI:!)!
> by Bonnie Wilder. One of three watercolors she completed on her 1985 pilgrimage.
> The Creative Act and the Spirit       25
> 
> planned to use white lettering, a two-foot band of deep tur-
> quoise was added across his area to provide contrast for his
> message, which spanned the fifty-foot length of the room in
> several rows of five-inch letters.
> Every word had been reproduced along the top edge of the
> art room wall inside and above the entrance. Declining the
> help of any of the others, Mike had borrowed a ladder from
> the custodian's supply room, working relentlessly and alone
> to make his idea a part of the final scheme. Although the
> work was sometimes difficult and tedious, he never com-
> plained. In fact, he frequently borrowed time from other
> classes to help push the work to completion. Classmates
> called him Michelangelo, comparing his efforts to the Sistine
> Chapel ceiling frescoes. He loved it.
> 
> SPirit!UJI Glimmerings and Connections. I mentioned earlier
> the similarity between the creative act and a heightened
> spiritual awareness which Mike had brought to my attention.
> I share with many others the belief that these two entities are
> part of the same reabn. Otto Donald Rogers, an artist and art
> professor, has expressed in an article in Balun Studies maga-
> zine the opinion that unity, a fundamental quality of art in its
> highest form, is a part of the divine world. When it takes
> shape in the material world through an artist's composition,
> it attracts, and thereby reflects, a divine message.' Viewed
> in this way, the artist becomes a channel of communication
> between the source and the recipient. Yet, sometimes (and
> I have experienced this myself in my own painting), when the
> act of creation is complete, the artist-as though awakened
> from a dream-feels he is seeing the results for the first time.
> History is rich with examples of artists who credit their
> Maker as the source of their inspiration. Mike's hero,
> Michelangelo, sent a stream of letters to his father and
> brothers with frequent references to such. He wrote in Janu-
> ary 1507: "I think I shall be ready to cast my statue ... pray
> God that it turns out well."2 In March of the same year, he
> MIKE CHISENHALL
> expressing his feelings about art through words, rather than
> through images.
> The Creative Act and the Spirit         27
> 
> followed with: " Pray God that my task shall come to a good
> end. '" Finally, in October he concluded: "My work will bring
> much honor upon me. I owe all of this to the grace of God. ",
> Michelangelo, who was less known as a poet than he was
> as a painter and sculptor, wrote a poem entitled " The Artist
> and His Work" which alludes to his belief both in the immor-
> tality of art and the power of the artist to bestow life. I quote
> it here in part:
> 
> . .. Shapes that seem alive
> Wrought in hard mountain marble, will survive
> Their maker , whom the years to dust return!
> Thus to effect cause yields. Art hath her turn,
> And triumphs over Nature . I, who strive
> With Sculpture, know this well; her wonders live
> In spite of time and death, those tyrants stern.
> So I can give long life to both of us
> In either way, by color or by stone,
> Making the semblance of thy face and mine."
> 
> A lesser artist of Michelangelo's time was Leon Battista Al-
> berti, another Italian who had similar thoughts. In 1436, he
> stated:
> 
> Painting is possessed of divine power, for not only, as it is
> said of friendship, does it make the absent present, but it
> also, after many centuries, makes the dead almost alive,
> so that they are recognized with great admiration for the
> artist, and with great delight. 6
> 
> Vincent Van Gogh, the Dutch expressionist painter whose
> tragic life has been made legendary through song, film, and
> in countless books, demonstrated his high regard for religion
> by attempting to become a minister as a young man. His hu-
> manitarian efforts to assist the poor coal miners of Belgium,
> where he was sent, caused him to be judged a failure by
> 28      Bonnie Wilder
> 
> church officials. They were of the opinion that he was exces-
> sively concerned with the miners' welfare, which caused him
> to lose dignity as a minister. Because he had failed at earlier
> endeavors, Vincent believed them. Later in life, he brought
> up the subject in letters written to his brother, Theo, who
> supported him financially when he changed to art . In 1888,
> during his most intense and productive period as an artist, he
> wrote from ArIes to Theo in Paris:
> 
> The subject (I am painting) is frightfully difficult, but that
> is just why I want to conquer it _ . . and it does me good to
> do difficult things .... That does not prevent my having
> a terrible need of-shall I say the word-religion . . . [then]
> I go out at night to paint the stars . .. 7
> 
> The result was one of his most well-known paintings, Starry
> Night.
> In another letter during the same period, he wrote:
> 
> My dear boy, sometimes I know so well what I want
> ... but I cannot, ill as I am, do without something which
> is greater than T, which is my life-the power to create."
> 
> Over the years I've made it a point to include a few days
> study of both Michelangelo and Van Gogh. among others, in
> my beginning level art classes, hoping to give them a taste
> of the heroic which is often an ingredient in an artist's life.
> I believe once a student is captivated by this quality. he is
> more likely to look beyond the superficial characteristics of
> art works new to him, which can sometimes appear awkward
> to the unpracticed eye_ Thus he opens himself more readily
> to the artist's real message. On at least one occasion, a stu-
> dent was brought to tears after exposure to Van Gogh.
> The Baha'i writings contain many passages which exalt the
> arts to a lofty rank. One of these even indicates where the ar-
> tist's "power" referred to in earlier quotes originates:
> o people of Baha! The source of crafts, sciences, and arts
> is the power of reflection. Make ye every effort that out of
> this ideal Mine there may gleam forth such pearls of wis-
> dom and utterance as will promote the well-being and har-
> mony of all the kindreds of the earth.9
> 
> In seeking to define " reflection" the dictionary indicates
> loosely that it is a state leading to ideas or conclusions. Of all
> creatures on earth, only the human being has the ability to
> think to the extent that the process may be called reflection.
> Several Baha'i artists have documented their thoughts and
> experiences in the making of art, relating them to matters of
> the spirit. Some of these, including the American abstract-
> expressionist painter, Mark Tobey, and the English potter,
> Bernard Leach, have achieved international recognition, each
> leaving behind a major body of work.
> Mark Tobey, who was largely self-taught, developed his ta-
> lent and world view simultaneously through travel and ex-
> change of ideas on many continents. He also accomplished
> a near miracle by establishing himself as one of this country's
> foremost avant-garde painters without ever dwelling at length
> in New York, the long-accepted stage for the serious artist's
> debut.
> Tobey learned of the Baha'i Faith from Juliet Thompson
> when they were both young art students attending classes
> together. This was at a time when he had begun to search for
> other and possibly greater forces in the world than the artistic
> impulse. His acceptance of the Faith in 1918 marked the be-
> ginning of its influence on his work, which proved to be last-
> ing. His unique "white writing" style emerged from his
> studies of oriental calligraphy, resulting in an art that blended
> East with West both materially on paper and spiritually in
> concept. Through usually small, subtle paintings Tobey
> speaks to the viewer in a mystical manner, mirroring his
> responses to Baha'f historical events and teachings. For ex-
> ample, he was known to depict effects of light, perhaps of
> THE RAlNBOW WALL
> expressed the elation students felt upon the completion of their eight-week mural project .
> The Creative Act and the Spirit         31
> 
> moonlight or city lights, and would by this imply a parallel
> with the spiritual world. Light is known to represent the spirit
> in the Baha'i scriptures. 10 The titles of some works are po-
> tently revealing in meaning such as "Conflict of the Satanic
> and Celestial Egos," relating to man's dual nature; "The Void
> Devouring the Gadget Era ," referring to the pervasive
> materialism in our society; and what could be considered a
> depiction of spirituality itself, "Lovers of Light," a beautiful
> painting reminiscent of frost on a windowpane. Tobey's suc-
> cess as a painter, in which the Faith played such a great part,
> led him to be the first American artist to be given the honor
> of a solo exhibition at the Louvre Museum in Paris during his
> own lifetime.
> Expressing himself in a second creative medium , Tobey
> has written poems and essays relating to the spiritual. In
> 1972, connecting the core of Baha 'i teachings with art, he
> stated :
> 
> ... the future of the world must be this realization of its
> oneness, which is the basic teaching as I understand it in
> the Baha'i Faith, and from that oneness will naturally de-
> velop a new spirit in art, because that's what it is. It's a
> spirit and it's not new words and it's not new ideas only.
> It's a different spirit. And that spirit of oneness will be
> reflected through painting. I I
> 
> Tobey's words connecting the spirit of unity proclaimed by
> the Faith with painting, can be compared with the following
> statement of Baha'u'llah:
> 
> The light which these souls radiale is responsible for Ihe ad-
> vancement of its peoples. They are like I1lItO leaven which
> leaveneth the world of being, and constitute the animating
> force through which the arts and wonders of the world are
> made manifesl. l '
> 32      Bonnie Wilder
> 
> A resident of Switzerland at the time, Tobey attended the
> National Baha'i Convention of that country held in Bern in
> 1962. As a pioneer to Switzerland during the Ten-Year World
> Crusade, I was also in attendance and had an opportunity to
> meet him. I remember thinking he looked something like the
> Uncle Sam Wants You posters of the Second World War ,
> although not as formidable . The Swiss believers stood some-
> what in awe of him. They described him as something of a
> recluse. I decided to speak to rum anyway. Thinking he prob-
> ably didn't wish attention drawn to himself, [was very brief.
> I told him I also had a deep involvement with art. He looked
> with interest at the small photographs of my work which I
> carried in my billfold, offering polite encouragement in a tone
> that was kind but not condescending. I was with Tobey no
> more than five minutes and still remember this encounter as
> one of the many unexpected rewards of pioneering.
> The British potter, Bernard Leach, is even more well-
> known as a potter than Tobey is as painter. Both traveled
> extensively, and went together to the Orient on at least one
> occasion. Both incorporated elements of oriental design into
> their works, and both were profoundly affected by Baha'i
> teachings. Leach spent eleven years in the East, traveling to
> Japan, Korea, and China in particular. He saw himself as a
> "courier between East and West," although he also visited
> many other parts of the world during his lifetime. One of his
> major accomplishments was the establishment of the St. rYeS
> pottery works in Cornwall, England .
> Leach saw his art, which began at the age of six, as only
> one of his "vocations." The other, initiated at about age
> seventeen, was his search for truth stimulated by the read-
> ing of William Blake's poetry. Through experiences he called
> "stepping stones of belief," he used two approaches to the
> gaining of knowledge: intellect and intuition. Of these he said:
> 
> The genuine artist requires and uses both all the time, and
> finds that to place intellect above intuition is simply to mis-
> The Creative Act and the Spirit      33
> 
> guide his footsteps: count your footsteps and you may fall
> down the stairs .... Intellect is a very good servant but a
> very bad maste.r 13
> 
> Leach justified his remarks by referring to a statement of
> 'Abdu'l-Baha which connects the word of God with the power
> to awaken intuition within us. He did not give the written
> source.
> Baha'is know of Juliet Thompson as the artist who, in 1912,
> painted a portrait of 'Abdu'l-Baha in New York. Many don't
> realize, however, that she was a painter of some renown who
> had studied art extensively in New York and Paris, exhibit-
> ed frequently, and had been received at the White House to
> paint the First Lady, Mrs. Calvin Coolidge. Juliet was very
> pretty and enjoyed an active social life, although she never
> married. Besides being skilled at art, she was an able writer
> who delighted 'Abdu'l-Baha with her ability to express her-
> self honestly.
> Juliet had a close relationship with 'Abdu'l-Baha , and he
> openly admitted that she was one of his favorites among
> those who attained his presence while he was in New York .
> We get a glimmering of the spiritual nature of this closeness
> as we read her diary. Juliet, in describing the sessions of
> painting 'Abdu'l-BaM, alluded to the power which seemed
> to take over her senses at those times:
> 
> Oh, those sittings: so wonderful, yet so humanly difficult!
> We move from room to room, from one kind of light to
> another. The Master has given me three half hours, each
> time in a different room, and each time people come in and
> watch me. But the miraculous thing is that nothing makes
> any difference. The minute I begin to work the same rap-
> ture takes possession of me. Someone Else looks through
> my eyes and sees clearly; Someone Else works through my
> hand with a sort of furious precision."
> 34      Bonnie Wilder
> 
> Marzieh Gail, writing the preface to the diary, stated that
> 'Abdu'l-Baha greatly encouraged Juliet's overall involvement
> in art, telling her it was the same as worship, but toward the
> end she no longer wanted to go on with it ... and all she
> wanted to do was teach the Faith. 1S
> 
> Conclusion. On these pages we have touched on diverse time
> periods and artistic viewpoints, both Baha', and non-Baha'i,
> in an attempt to discover the connection between the creative
> act and the spirit. Such an objective probably can never be
> achieved in an absolute sense, but we have gathered a har-
> vest of hints. Michelangelo spoke of the "grace of God " and
> the " immortality of art, " certainly spiritual tel illS . Alberti
> supported this by referring to painting as a "divine power."
> Van Gogh described his crying need for religion, which he
> seemed able to satisfy by the act of painting. Mark T obey
> gave us a "spirit of oneness," while Bernard Leach offered
> "intuition awakened by God." Juliet Thompson described a
> "rapture taking possession," borrowing her eyes and hands.
> Time itself will bring us more complete answers. Shoghi
> Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha', Faith, had this to say
> when questioned by an individual believer concerning future
> Baha 'i artists:
> 
> We have to wait only a few years to see how the spirit
> breathed by Baha'u'lliih will find expression in the work
> of the artists. What . .. you and other Baha',s are attempt-
> ing are only faint rays that precede the effulgent light of
> a glorious mom. We cannot yet value the part the Cause
> is destined to play in the life of society. We will have to give
> it time. The material this spirit has to mold is too crude and
> unworthy, but it will at last give way and the cause of Ba-
> h,fu'llah will reveal itself in its full splendour. 16
> 
> The end of this essay brings us back to where we started ,
> for I have not yet shared with you the message Mike Chisen-
> hall wrote with such fervor long ago in my art class. (Forgive
>
> — *The Creative Act and the Spirit (Used by permission of the curator)*