oil painting - body awareness practices

Ghent Altarpiece
saw it today... wonderful colors (Mary in clear Blue God-Father-Christ in shining Red, John the Baptist in full Green, not to mention the many shades of green of the plants). there are X-arrangements in many ways, a.o. the four streams of people towards the altar of the lamb, held together by a circle of angels surrounding it. a reality, as complex as reality, beautiful. I felt re-rooted in my European heritage.

this painting was one of the first where oil was used as a liquidizer for the paint-particles, instead of egg / tempera. this new approach fully allowed painting in several layers above each other, to achieve a much more naturalistic illusion of the represented objects and people. also, it is speculated that painters Jan van Eyck and Hubert van Eyck used magnifying glasses to achieve the minuscule details.

a sensoriness so lively and largely unhindered by intellectual obstacles. brought into arrangements, without compromising the sensory experience. (see again "The Tower of Babel" in this blog)

the painting suggests endlessness, I could fly right into it...

in the church itself there are two copies of Adam and Eve made in the 19th century. the difference of doing something a second time, making it secondary. I didn't even notice that they were copies, I thought that for some reason the originals had been placed off the altarpiece itself. I wasn't as impressed as I'd expect I'd be. later I realized that not only was the way of painting them cruder, but also the copy Adam & Eve were wearing dark animal furskins.... to cover their nakedness.....

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in my own experience I find that through using release-based techniques (including Kinetic Awareness) I gain a very similar ability of working more refined and in layers, comparable to the use of oil-painting. my body is explored more in minuscule ways, I become more sensitive to the energy of moving / living / being.

the increasing awareness of my body creates links in my consciousness, where before had been gaps in my understanding, allowing me a more complete and con-sequent course of action.

and, I find that the release-based body work creates an open-ended attitude, linked towards infinity...