Blog: Expressions of Spontaneity

The Space Between Centurions and Freedom by Christine Alfery (2011)

Acts of spontaneity appeal to people who are comfortable with themselves and work hard to maintain their unique identity and freedom. 

Not the type of freedom where you stand alone from the crowd, but rather the kind of freedom where you embrace the world, comfortable with your difference and the value you bring as an individual. 

Love's Extravagant Gestures by Christine Alfery (2009)

I see this type of spontaneity in acts of love. Love overcomes the isolation of standing apart in a crowd, and rather is an expression of respect for what each of us has to offer unconditionally.

Out On A Limb by Christine Alfery (2020)

I see spontaneity in acts of creativity. When we are truly spontaneous in creation, we allow our unique selves to shine. We must be genuinely intimate with what we spontaneously create, otherwise we can not call it art. 

I Got A Brand New Pair Of Roller Skates by Christine Alfery (2016)

Only when the artist spontaneously embraces their individuality can they create unique, original, one-of-a-kind works of art. Otherwise their work is merely technique and the person who speaks visually in this manner is a master technician. It is not easy to expose this intimacy for all to see. Spontaneity makes the artist very vulnerable.

Spontaneous action happens when I load a brush with paint and drip it across the canvas with an uncontrolled gesture like Pollock. Spontaneous action is the movement of the paint when Helen Frankenthaler poured it across the unprimed canvas and watched multiple colors dance together forming their own rhythm, their own forms and shapes. Spontaneous action in my work allows me to dance with the wind and fly with the birds when I paint.

Geese Flying South by Christine Alfery (2010)

The Abstract Expressionists paved the way for other artists to seek additional ways to have spontaneous freedom in their work. Improv Jazz players are the same – their work is always built upon their spontaneous freedom, to react to a note, to join with it and dance. 

All That Jazz by Christine Alfery (c. 1980's)

Creativity, like love, uses spontaneity to bring these things into being. They are ways in which all life is respected and revered.