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 Being an artist, the words intention and creativity are always on my mind.
And I’m not talking about the struggle
of bringing the creative flow into my studio- and keep it alive once it’s there. Letting the paint flow on the canvas is the easy part of the job. Having a process that transforms that creativity into a successful career and brings in enough funds to live off my work is an entirely different matter.
In an ideal world, hordes of people would be banging on artists’ studio-doors, holding their money between their fingers, begging the artists to hand them a piece of art and please take their money. It’s clear that our planet has not reached this level of flow and sophistication –yet.- Art is all too often seen as an afterthought. Somehow people have no problem with spending thousands of dollars on a couch, but the place above it… maybe a poster or another little something for a few hundred dollars max? Odd, for sure, when you consider all the scientific data that’s available that emphasizes the positive influence of being surrounded by art you love; a positive influence on your blood-pressure, your digestive system, and your mindset in general. One of my collectors, a financial manager who handles hundreds of millions of dollars in investments, keeps showing up at my studio to get some more paintings, and tells me that from his own experience, being surrounded by art makes both him, his staff and his clients smarter, more receptive and more creative. “It just puts me in a good mood, and when I’m in a good mood, everything runs smoother” he said.
So with some exceptions, like this enlightened collector, the artist’s life is a constant challenge; for how does one educate the world that art and creativity are as necessary an ingredient of conscious life as the air we breathe if the average person has not developed any awareness of that -yet?
 Nevertheless, I decided a long time ago I wasn’t going to help validate another stereotype of the ‘martyr-artist’ syndrome and I made the stubborn decision that I would live my life successfully and comfortably. Since childhood I had already discovered the oddity of how strongly fantasizing about something, -which I equated with day-dreaming, would often miraculously ‘suddenly’ manifest that fantasy a while later. It seemed to have something to do with focus, or maybe more a soft determined focus, like dreaming, or meditating…something that required a different part of the brain than all the rational functionalities my environment had –unsuccessfully- tried to wire into me. Consequently, as I had used this magic in my childhood, I continued to use these ideas in my artist career. And as mysteriously as fantasies had turned into reality in my childhood, the magic alleviating the pressures of adult life appeared in the form of a sudden sale or commission check rolling in just as the unpaid bills seemed to become insurmountable mountains.
 One night, having developed a bit of a cold, I walked into a drugstore, and observed the night-manager alias checkout clerk, alias service provider, juggling a complex series of transactions with the precision of a tightrope walker, I remember standing there with my stuffed nose wondering why this person had not applied this complexity to another profession; say brain-surgeon, or CFO of a large corporation. How come that people with very similar qualities ended up in such different lives; one of success one of quiet or not so quiet desperation? That thought never quite left my head and stayed on as a nagging unanswered question long after the cold was gone. It wasn’t long after that experience that one day I became aware of the voice of a very enthusiastic person who was practically shouting through my car-radio that the key to success was all to do with the intention you set, and that the perception of your environment can seriously determine how you see the world and yourself, and can influence the functioning of the cells in your body. A few evenings later I joined a crowd of at least three hundred people in a community center that were handed out x-ray eyewear and confronted with how different we react to the signal red or green. Needless to say, the person standing on the stage, as excited and passionately as a child, generously wanting to share its toys with the world, was Bruce Lipton. Dr. Bruce Lipton, esteemed cellular biologist, had given up an academic career when he realized that the academic world was not any time soon going to implement the findings of quantum physics into its own organization structure. And so, having left the stuffy academic halls he was now sharing his wisdom with ‘the people.’ And the people ate it up, including me.
 I have since the memorable meetings with Bruce and his wonderful companion Margaret, and after reading his book The Biology of Belief (and now, his just released new book Spontaneous Evolution) come to much better understand the things I intuitively already knew, but could never rationally wrap my head around. I’ve often thought back of my meetings with Bruce, including the afternoon when we put on an instant lecture in my house a few weeks after 9/11 when the entire nation was in a state of fear and withdrawal. Observing my depressed friends and community, I felt that the best gift to my friends would be a fire-cracker talk by Bruce that explained the link between biology and the power of intention and choice; the importance of understanding the relationship between our perception of the world and the reality that that perception creates, as it determines our mental and to a great extent our physical state.
Having over the years integrated that information with other crucial findings in evolutionary biology and psychology, I’ve come to the understanding that the artist’s quest to unleash his or her personal potential and creativity can be translated into every field; not just art. For the artist it may be the brush, but it may also be the doctor’s scalpel, the accountant’s calculator, the speaker’s lectern or the gardener’s shovel.
 Sharing the insights from my own life as a working artist, I recently completed the manuscript for my new book The Intentional Artist, (www.TheIntentionalArtist.com) published by Skylark Press.
I have come to believe, that only when every person on this planet has come to see their own life as a work of art, a magnificent co-creation between nature and themselves, we can be free and truly celebrate our lives. In the meantime, I’ll keep painting and visualizing and remembering Bruce Lipton’s little test with the red and green glasses to remind myself that things may be very different from how they appear or are perceived…
Los Angeles, October 2009
Luc Leestemaker (www.LucLeestemaker.com) grew up in the Netherlands, and has worked and lived in Los Angeles since 1990. His paintings are exhibited throughout the US and internationally, and through his collaborations with architects and developers his paintings are increasingly becoming a part of major corporate and private collections. Two retrospective museum exhibitions were held in 2004 and his work was recently included in a show at the Riverside Museum in California. The documentary “Swimming Through The Clouds” about the artist’s life and work, was screened at a number of Film Festivals around the world and broadcast by Link TV, a culture and arts satellite network. In 2007 Skylark Press published his book, “Luc Leestemaker: Paintings” which is now available in bookstores and online. He collaborated with famed jazz composer and musician Charlie Haden and created the artwork for the cd “Land of the Sun,” which won a Grammy in 2005. His paintings have been showcased in a number of film and television projects, amongst them, Boston Legal, Spiderman, Bringing Down the House, Erin Brockovitch, Simone, and Shopgirl. A new book with auto-biographical stories and an overview with eighty color-plates that chronicle 20 years of painting in the U.S., titled The Intentional Artist will be released in February 2010. The publisher, Skylark Press, is offering anyone who signs up for the book now the chance to win one of three paintings. Order now, and your order number becomes your lottery ticket. More information on the book’s website: www.TheIntentionalArtist.com
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