At 78, El Paso artist Carmen Navar continues to discover the divine in the act of creation.
On Thursday, Aug. 13, there will be an opening reception from 5 to 8 p.m. for Navar’s one-woman show at Rejuvené MD, 7470 Cimarron Plaza, Building 13, Suite 100 in West El Paso.
Navar said the husband-and-wife team of Drs. Karen Herman and Randy Goldstein have made their clinic and spa the place where “medicine meets art gallery” as they regularly welcome artists to highlight their work.
The reception will include music, light refreshment, mimes and “a lot of new art,” Navar said.
As the event nears, Navar answered some emailed questions about the event and her art journey. (Answers have been edited for style.)
El Paso Times: What will the focus of the exhibition be? Will it be the birds you have been working on or be a more expansive representation of your art?
Navar: This show will be more about the expansion of my work and all the techniques and styles that I do. I just used the “bird” idea as a starting point because birds to me symbolize freedom of the spirit and this show with the title. “Yes You Can: The Creative World of Carmen Navar,” is about encouraging people to live their dreams and expand their creativity in all areas of life, not just visual art, but to live with “gusto.” Especially since I just turned 78, I feel I am just beginning a new chapter of my golden years since my husband died.
El Paso Times: Your art motto is “Peace and Beauty in a Stress-Filled World.” When did you discover art offered you this sanctuary? What has it helped you escape or deal with?
Navar: The idea of “Peace and Beauty” came to me when I was diagnosed with melanoma cancer many years ago and I was journaling and praying a lot to keep my mind at peace and the words came to me as I found solace in art and creativity. Art has become my sanctuary, both as a profession and to deal with the stresses and anxieties of my mind.
El Paso Times: At 78, when you look back at your career, what do you wish you knew then that you know now?
Navar: What I wish I knew then that I know now is to believe in my own God-given capabilities and trust that the good Lord will see me through. And since I now live in the moment and have a lived experience, I am using that way of thinking to inspire others. I am very careful about what I say and think to myself. I have learned to align myself constantly to the Greater Mind because I sure don’t know everything. I stop what I am doing often during the day and say, “Thank you.”
El Paso Times: What advice would you offer to artists who are just beginning their journey?
Navar: The advice would be to never quit on their dreams, to put action under their words and work through the “messy middle” when stuck and get to the other side of whatever it is they are doing.
El Paso Times: What should younger artists understand?
Navar: Younger artists need to understand that it is a lived experience and “TIME” (Things I Must Earn” … my acronym for time) that will take them to the finish line.
El Paso Times: You begin your art without considering the final look, believing “divine intervention” will lead to that finished creation. What does it feel like when that inner “force” kicks in? Do you recognize the instant?
Navar: I find that when I try to control my work and try to create “my way,” the work can be forced and controlled and does not flow, but if I surrender and “let the painting tell me what it wants,” then the magic and originality appear. The energy, which I call divine intervention, the muse, or whatever you want to call, it just takes over, and instinct, intuition plus skill developed over time create the work. I have the original idea, but if I am in the flow the work is very original and even surprises me. I have repeated the same ideas in my work, but they always come out different, no matter how much I want to copy.
El Paso Times: Are you ever surprised by the outcome?
Navar: Yes, the outcome surprises me.
El Paso Times: What do you hope people will take away from your exhibition?
Navar: I hope people will take home a more open mind to creativity as I am presenting many techniques and styles, abstract, representational, surreal in mixed media oil, acrylic and watercolor. It’s like asking, “One person did all this?” and the answer is, “Yes, my creative mind thinks like this.” It is not linear. I was called weird before and told I could not draw by some teachers, but my answer came back, “You are right; I do not draw like you.”
El Paso Times: In addition to original artwork, will other merchandise be available for purchase, such as prints?
Navar: Yes. I will have large and smaller work available, plus prints.
El Paso Times: What will the price ranges of the art be?
Navar: The price ranges start all the way from prints at $25 to my biggest pieces of art at $3,000.
El Paso Times: Do you have anything to add?
Navar: We all have the extraordinary in us, waiting to be released. The path will show the way. Therefore, trust and believe. And while you are at it, breathe and say, “Yes I can.”
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Carmen Navar’s art show encourages ‘creativity in all areas of life’
Reporting by Sam Gaytan, Special to the El Paso Times / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Sam Gaytan, Special to the El Paso Times | USA TODAY Network
