BILLY MARSHALL STONEKING

STORY, in whatever guise it appears, whether as poem, play, screenplay, history, or novel - is an act of love. And yet the act of finding the story that we need to tell is fraught with danger, and is almost always bound up in some way with one's fears, prejudices, and expectations; not to mention one’s knowledge, which itself may be a form of ignorance.

When the painter, Jackson Pollack, spoke of a painting as having "a life of its own," he underscored the core insight and action of every creative artist. To create anything (as opposed to merely "copying") is to work as a MEDIUM.

The workings of the Mediumistic Poet/Filmmaker/Artist/Storyteller present a way of Being that is familiar to anyone that has overcome the fear, stagnation and unfocused idleness of habit (read: technique, method, formula) that is antithetical to every act of authentic creation. The artist distains all acts of stupidity and cowardice, though the way to the fulfillment of the dream may lead hazardously through both.

Stop thinking of paint, clay, costume, words, film, as mediums of artistic expression!! - they are the MEANS of expression - the tools employed in the act of expressing the MEDIUM, which is always the ARTIST and the artist's VISION as it tears out of his/her soul. As such, "the position of the artist is humble; (he/she) is essentially a channel." (Piet Mondrian)

The imposing of any formula or template to the finding of a story is invariably unsatisfying, not because structure is unimportant but because any appeal to mere formula is all-too-often an expression of the fear that renders love impotent.

There are no methods or sure-fire techniques for dealing with these fears and anxieties other than stepping off the cliff, or entering the belly of the beast, or spending 40 days and nights in the desert. The most difficult part of any journey is taking the first step.

The long dark night of the soul is not merely a condition of salvation, but is an act of openness, of faith, of love.

No matter how desperately one manipulates the playing pieces to win a game, the game itself is not worth winning so long as transformation has been left out. Art is not about self-expression, so much as it is about self-transformation, and in the art of finding the story ALL of the characters - including the storyteller - are transformed.

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"Every time I read your work I get an entirely different picture of you, an entirely different picture of it, and an entirely different picture of me." - Shelby A Howard

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