Autism, Shame & Society: An insider’s view



The Star-flower Cactus-by Stephanie Tihanyi
(all copyright held by the artist)

Autism, Shame & Society: An insider’s view

Published July 21st 2015 in the St. Maarten newspaper The Daily Herald

 When I was a young teen, a close relative’s child died, leaving behind young sibling, who had just been diagnosed with autism. I remember my father saying, “It was sad, but it was sadder, the wrong one died”. He probably did not mean it, but the time I thought it was cruel and I sensed the shame. I did not know, I too was on the autism spectrum.  This toxic shame permeates society, negatively impacting on the lives of autistic parents, children and adults, in ways far worse than their difference ever could. In an enlightened society, it shouldn’t be that way, but it is. It is through societal attitudes, those of us who are ADHD, dyslexic, or autistic, grow up, learning to feel shame for who we are. Society has perpetuated a culture of fear, shame, and pity around difference, often making it more of a disability than it needs to be. I believe this shame is intentionally and unintentionally manufactured, often by those who profess to care and that discrimination, against the differently abled, is becoming the major cause of injustice and civil rights issues of our time.

I always knew my brain worked very differently, I never knew why. Far from being devastating, being diagnosed was a relief that gave me validation for my experiences. It helped me understand and accept myself enabling me to re-frame my life, in a new positive way. It helped me forgive myself for being ‘stupid’, for being terribly bullied (at home and at school), for being misunderstood, for always struggling to fit in. It answered questions why being social, was always such a mystery and such hard work. It helped me finally come to terms with a lifetime self-blame and low self-esteem. Like many girls on the spectrum, I craved friends but had few or none. I tended to hang on the edge of groups, in order to learn the group’s social behaviors by observation and copying. I learnt to disguise my lack of social skills by being invisible. Like many kids in today’s ‘special education’, I struggled in school, except for art, but art had little merit in school. At 11, I was labeled as ‘a child having below average capabilities’ and was put in the ‘slow-class’ after being bullied. Then one day, I stunned everybody by creating a huge 200 page folder of pressed wild flowers, in my summer holidays, I collected, identified, pressed, catalogued and labeled them with their common and scientific Latin names. People on the spectrum are an odd mixture of strengths and deficits like that. Back then, the ‘slow class’ didn’t mean you got special education or extra support, it meant they left you on your own. I finished school with no qualifications.

 From my teens to my late 20,s, I had such terrible social anxiety and depression. Many jobs, were beyond my ability to cope, because of sensory issues, even talking to others was difficult. Most of my jobs when I wasn't unemployed were in cleaning and washing-up. I had to practice over and over in my head sentences, just to be able to ask for a packet of cigarettes in a store or a bag of fruit at the grocers. It was so hard to get the right words out or intonation in the right order, together with the right body language, without looking totally weird, frightening people or irritating them. I memorized scripts for everything.  Many people on the spectrum do in time develop, abet atypically and later in life.  I eventually got better at engaging with people and even taught myself many subjects I had missed in school, like writing, but art remained my one special passion that I never had to work at. Looking back, I never imagined I would be the person I am now, capable of doing what I do now.

Following my diagnosis, I read a lot, I also talked with other autistic people, read their books, articles, research and blogs. I found a common experience and was stunned by a profound dissonance between how autistic people viewed themselves, their lives and how the rest of society views them, which was shockingly judgmental, negative, inaccurate and unjust.  Right from the start, from the time someone came up with the word ‘autism’ or ‘Asperger’s’, the condition has been judged from the outside, and not from the inside, not as from how it has been experienced. No one really knows autism is, but most in the medical field believe it’s a disorder caused by genetic defects or environmental harm, either way it’s a disease to be cured, that the value of talents attributed to autism, does not outweigh the deficits, and that autistic people and society would be better off if they were not autistic. They see it only in its diagnostic terms, and purely through a deficit model. They use negative words like 'suffers',' disorder', ‘disease’; they make lists of 'symptoms'. Most all their research comes from child studies, even today, adults are an un-researched mystery. The exclusion of adult autistic voices from the process of knowledge production is ethically and epistemologically problematic and has resulted in a horrendous lack of ethics. I see, that society allows the use of stigmatizing and fear-provoking language, to raise money for genetic research for a cure for child autism or even elimination by pre-natal testing

Emotive words are used in 'awareness campaigns like, ‘horror of autism’, ‘epidemic’, 'devastating' describing autistic children as ‘lepers’, ‘lost’, ‘empty’, soulless’ and ‘tragic’,  accumulated in the now infamous, 2009 Autism Speaks video, aimed at drawing funds from big corporate sponsors, shows a small child looking at the camera and a dead zombie-like voice saying:

“I am autism. I have no interest in right or wrong.  I work faster than pediatric AIDS, cancer, and diabetes combined, I will plot to rob you of your children and your dreams….And if you’re happily married, I will make sure that your marriage fails. Your money will fall into my hands, and I will bankrupt you for my own self-gain,” says the video campaign.

These so called ‘charities’, repel all protests and attempts by autistic adults to have any say or voice in policy in their organizations and it’s not hard to see why. This negative and false definition of autism that shapes society’s attitudes of autistics in the 21st century, as ‘scary’, ‘sick’ or tragic’, is being driven by big business at the expense and wellbeing of innocent autistic people and their families. In 2011 of over $314 million that was raised, only 3% went into services support and education and only 1% went into adult services and the rest into genetic research labs.  The biomed movement is no better in its unchecked abuse of ethics in pursuit of funding and the selling of 'cures', many unproven and untested.

The point I make is, the unethical, negative portraying of autistic people, has been successful as a business marketing strategy.  Some of the most extreme Anti-vaccine and anti GMO-crusaders are accused of upping the ante. I have seen the most awful fear-mongering language, shock and awe tactics from this quarter. It’s from this sense of injustice and autistic identification,  I am drawn to defend the wrongful portrayal of all people, who are neuro-diverse. The only way I can do that is to stand up, and speak out, loud and clear.  In the last decade more and more adults from all across the autistic spectrum, across the globe, from all walks of life, scientists, parents, teachers, writers, lawyers, are organizing to advocate for theirs and others human and civil rights. By borrowing lessons from the Black civil rights movement, they are advocating against abuse and discrimination. Best known group is TPGA (Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism) and ASAN (Autistic Self Advocacy Network), both are online.  These are people who see themselves, not a disorder, not broken or inferior, but as a variant within the normal neurological diversity, of the human genome. Their struggles, they attribute to psychological stresses of discrimination, intolerance of their differences, lack of supports and the constant perpetuation of negative myths and stereotyping.   

Sometime ago, I wrote a piece in this paper, trying to correct the many of the myths about people with autism and Asperger’s I had read in it. The false myths of the lack of empathy, lack of conscience, or lack feelings etc are wrong. Recently someone wrote about people with Asperger’s having terrible relationships, of being unimaginative and uncreative. Many people with Asperger’s marry; have children and have long happy relationships, why? Because like everyone else who falls in love, we pick and choose our mates, because they have a combination of positive traits, that are similar to or complement our own. Unimaginative?, uncreative?, I will leave that up to you. . I did not write this as a pity piece, but to inspire others to stand up. To tell them its ok to not let others, who don’t know them, define who they are. So you see the shame of autism, does not come from being autistic, it comes 100% from society. Incidentally, that younger autistic relative went on to university, to major in mathematics and speaks 5 languages.

By coming out, I take that shame and I am giving it back, it never really belonged to me, I don’t need it. Finally at last I can accept myself and like who I am. I will leave you with these words by Wired reporter Steve Silberman, author of 'Neurotribes", who wrote in his book ‘The Forgotten History of Autism: ‘We are still trying to catch up to Hans Asperger, who believed that the cure for the most disabling aspects of autism, is to be found in understanding teachers, accommodating employers, supportive communities, and parents who have faith in their children’s potential.

Stephanie Tihanyi  

 

 

My Letter to the Newspaper Autistics are not Pychopaths

Recently I wrote a letter to the newspaper. I felt compelled to write because I needed to correct some statements by a regular writer to the newspaper's opinion page, had made about people with autism/Asperger's. The lady in question often wrote quite nice articles about the helpful practice of mindfulness, which actually I liked to read, however, this time she wrote about people with autism and made the comparison of autism to psychopaths , ' the neurologically disordered' she called us.  Here is my letter:



The Broken- Hearted
 Machine - charcoal sketch by S. Tihanyi
(all copyrights are held by the artist)

An Autistic’s Reply to Mindful Comments by (Name Protected)

"Please allow me a little space in your newspaper to respond to some of the recent comments made by (name protected), about people on the autism spectrum. I give the lady the benefit of the doubt and believe she is compassionate and well-meaning but not aware that some of the facts she, holds are not totally accurate and that their proliferation creates needless fear, stereotyping, avoidance and bullying for autistic people by society. This can cause them shame, lack of self-esteem and depression. I do not intend to bash the lady, but as a high functioning autistic, feel I must set the truth straight, I am also backed up by facts from the very experts she quoted in her article. She states that autistic people, just like everyone else, can have low, medium or high IQ’s and the deficits and gains of both for IQ runs parallel.  Very good. Marriage with a partner on the spectrum can be work and a lot of learning, for both. Yes of course this is correct. The problem is not about their lack of capacity, will or lack of love or caring, its communication. I felt the article was fair but parts were vague and open to misunderstanding, especially the part about the perceived autistic lack of empathy and the comparison to psychopathy. This part troubled me a lot.

I quote the article: “The lack of empathy comes with some neurological disorders, not just autism- the psychopath will derive some pleasure from your pain, but the autistic will wonder what you are complaining about”, Their “(empathy) “needs to be worked on in their youth so that they can learn to reciprocate even if it’s just learnt behavior and does not come from the heart”.

I take issue with this line as it could give the reader the impression that autistics are ingenuous, false, heartless or lacking the capacity for feelings. This terrible perspective has been used to justified all sorts of bullying, discrimination and abuse upon autistic children and adults, whether intentional not, because people believe we don’t have feelings like others. It’s wrong. This misconception came about from early clinical research over the use of the clinical word ‘empathy’. It has been noted by autism experts and attempts have been made to address it over the years but the damage from a misconception around the clinical word “empathy” still lingers, even among some health professionals.

‘Empathy has nothing do to with how the person feels, i.e. whether they feel bad for someone when they are hurting (as in sympathy), love or care about them (unconditional love and altruism). It has to do with understanding the emotional state of another person (cognitive), and responding appropriately.  The ability to recognize the emotional state in another person relies on good communication. Autistics and non-autistics communicate differently. As someone on the autistic spectrum, I can tell you that my difficulties in social situations, have absolutely nothing to do with empathy – chosen or automatic. I quote from an online blog: "When I know someone else is suffering, I can’t help but feel empathy for them. It hurts me inside sometimes so intensely, I am very sensitive, if anything, often, I seem to have more empathy than the average person. Consider this please, if someone told you, in Russian, “I’m sad because my mother died yesterday”, you’ll only feel empathy for their sadness if you understand Russian. If you don’t know Russian, his statement will have no meaning to you and you won’t realize he’s talking about a sad event. For autistic people, nonverbal communication is like a foreign language, and we often don’t understand what it’s conveying. If I don’t realize someone is sad, I won’t show empathy for their sadness. But as soon as they tell me, in a way I understand, I’m sympathetic and feel for them, just as anyone else would. (Whether I’ll know what to do to comfort them is another matter)"
Certainly most parents of autistic kids object strongly to the portrayal of autistics as unfeeling, unloving, and unlovable as well. “Empathy" could be teased into two parts: 1) Awareness-empathy, i.e awareness of other's emotions and well-being, and 2) Caring-empathy, i.e. caring about other people's emotions and well-being. I also quote expert Dr Tony Attwood, who states:

 “I think it is important to explain the misinterpretation of other people’s suggestions of a lack of empathy for people with Asperger’s syndrome. I think there are two factors here, one is that the person with Asperger’s syndrome may not be able to read the subtle signals in another person in facial expression, body language and gesture that would normally be associated with a response of compassion or affection. Thus, if the person with Asperger’s syndrome does not respond with a hug or words of compassion the neurotypical defaults to paranoia and then assumes that the person with Asperger’s syndrome lacks care and empathy. It is not that the person lacks care and empathy it is more that they didn’t/could'nt read the signals or body language. Once the signals are recognized, the person with Asperger’s syndrome can be remarkably kind and supportive.

One of autisms biggest researchers, Dr Simon Baron -Cohen has also attempted to address this misconception that people have, of autism’s lack of empathy being the same as the psychopathic/sociopathic lack of empathy: He says, “I want to return to the subject but with more information on WHY there is a misunderstanding about autistic and sociopathic persons and why popular culture tends to screw up portrayals of both. The key difference seems to be that in psychopaths the 'cognitive' component of empathy is intact but the 'affective' component is not. In autism, both components may be impaired, or just the cognitive component. But their strong systemizing leads them, through powerful logic, to develop a moral code based on 'fairness' and 'justice'. Psychopaths lack the moral compass that most people develop using their empathy, and lack the moral compass that people with autism develop using their strong systemizing. People with autism spectrum conditions often end up as 'super-moral', developing a set of rules they expect people to live up to consistently (such as honesty, fairness, duty), arriving at the conclusion that one should 'treat others as you would have others treat you' because it is the most logical approach. He also adds: In my experience whilst even adults with Asperger Syndrome may have difficulties figuring out why someone else’s remark was considered funny, or why their own remark was considered rude, or may judge others as liars when they simply are inconsistent in not doing what they said they would do, they may nevertheless have a highly developed emotional empathy, caring about how someone feels and not wanting to hurt them. If they do hurt them, it is often unintentional and they feel mortified when it is pointed out, and want to rectify this. In this respect, they do have some of the components of empathy.

Many people with autism also form very strong emotional relationships with their pets, worrying about their welfare, and find that whilst they struggle to ‘read’ human behavior and human intentions, they can read the arguably more predictable behavior of a pet. Finally, as mentioned earlier, the difficulties with the cognitive element of empathy by no means leave people with autism devoid of a moral code, and their strong systemizing can mean that they often end up with a more principled moral code than many people without autism. Thank you."

Walls of Ignorance

The 5Day Art Challenge: Artistic Development



Me, getting an early start Photo- Stephanie Tihanyi
(all copyright held by the artist)

It was begun online, on Facebook by my fellow artists of the Visionary Art community, (this is where we all connect and come together from our far flung and many times obscure places across the globe). The 5 Day Art Challenge. The one (artist) nominated, had to post 3 pictures of their work each day for 5 days. Each day they had to nominate another artist friend to do the same. We had to include work we did years ago, up until where we are now. It was a great exercise for me to frame my development by creating a simple brief timeline. Here it is from my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/stephy.tihanyi





1) The Owl and the Badger-by S. Tihanyi (all copyrights held by the artist)





2) The Broken- Hearted Machine- by S. Tihanyi (all copyrights held by the artist)





3) My Grandmothers Yard- by S. Tihanyi (all copyrights held by the artist)

Feb 19 Day One 5Day Art Challenge: Thank you fellow artist, Dakini for nominating me for the 5 Day are Challenge, where I get to post 3 works, old or new, for 5 days and nominate another artist to do the same. Here are some very early works back when I lived in Luton in the UK. I worked on the assembly line as a welder at Vauxhalls car factory. I welded wheel arches in the day and painted at night. 1988- 1990. 'The Owl & the Badger'- oil on wood, 'The Broken-Hearted Machine'- gouache and dry pastels on paper, 'My Grandmothers Yard, Pecs, Hungary, (with the old walnut tree)- acrylic on board'
Today I nominate Brian Lovebug Joseph to take up the challenge.





1) The Angel & the FireCat- by S.Tihanyi (all copyrights are held by the artist)





2) Crown of 12 Suns- by S.Tihanyi (all copyrights are held by the artist)

3) The Corn Goddess-by S. Tihanyi 9all copyrights are held by the artist)

20 Feb Day Two: 5Day Art Challenge: Early sketch for a later painting (Angel and the FireCat) -Dry pastels on paper.  'Crown of 12 Suns' -egg tempera on wood panel. 'The Corn Goddess' -black & white sketch on board. These I did before leaving the UK, before 1993. After that, I did not paint for sometime.
Today I nominated : Artist, Quadri Di Gio Curioni




1) The Frigate Birds of Coralitia- by S. Tihanyi (all copyrights are held by the artist)






2) The Reef Diver- by S. Tihanyi (all copyrights are held by the artist)





3) Kestrel in the Meadow- by S. Tihanyi (all copyrights are held by the artist)

21 Feb Day Three: 5Day Art Challenge: When I came to live in the Caribbean in 1993, I lost my connection to my home and found myself an outsider in an emerging country that was forging a nationalistic identity through a shared Caribbean heritage. I struggled with the feeling of being irrelevant and a non-belonger, but I found a place in producing works that studied the outer world of my tropical environment and nature's stunning beauty. 'Frigate birds by Coralitia'-acrylic on canvas, 'The Reed Diver'- oil on canvas, 'The Kestrel in the Meadow'- limited edition linocut print on paper.
For todays challenge, I nominate: Ross Trebilcock





1) Old House in Marigot- by S.Tihanyi (all copyrights are held by the artist)





2) Flamboyant Flux- by S.Tihanyi (all copyrights are held by the artist)





3) The Rainbow Tree of Life DNA- by S. Tihanyi
(all copyrights are held by the artist)

 

Feb 22 Day Four: 5Day Art Challenge: Up until 2008-2012, I produced artwork to fit to the conservative, commercial art tastes around me, being told so constantly, that to be successful, I had to do what people want. So I did. Then the 2008 crash happened. Since then and till the present day, art buying dried up more every year, along with the art galleries. Cruise ship tourists grew, but spent rarely on art. It was a blessing in a way, because it made me face the fact I had lost an important part of myself as an artist. I had blocked my artistic development. Through a period of depression, I finally decided to listen to my own voice again and gradually introduced the surreal-ness back into my work, risking the chance of attaining general appeal or local marketability. I decided, I would rather be true to myself even if I never sell another painting again. ' The Old House in Marigot - limited edition linocut print on watercolor paper'. 'Flamboyant Flux' acrylic on canvas, 'The Rainbow Tree of Life'- oil on board.

Today, I nominate artist: Lukifer Aurelius

 

1) Dweller Between the Worlds- by S. Tihanyi
(all copyrights are held by the artist)





2) Cup of Abundance- by S.Tihanyi
 (all copyrights are held by the artist)





3) I shall Fear No Evil-by  S. Tihanyi
(all copyrights are held by the artist)

Feb 23 Day Five: 5Day Art Challenge: In 2012, I made a bold step of opening a small art gallery, because all the galleries were disappearing and I had nowhere to show or sell my work, Unfortunately it closed two years later, proving unfeasible. I felt very isolated and alone, partly because of the actual physical reality of working as an artist, but also because of the difference in the aims, objectives and nature of that art. If Visionary art is seen as 'Outstream or off the main by the Mainstream art world, here, its never seen at all. I know most people thought, 'why does she paint that strange stuff, don't she know she has no hope of anyone going to buy it'. Actually, I thought this a lot myself. This loneliness made me begin looking for others like me, others that would accept me. It was such a wonderful thing that through Facebook, I discovered the Visionary Art Tribe. At last, my people! A collective of people stretched out across the globe, a supportive fellowship of artists who have in common, a genuine love of appreciating and making visionary, surreal and spiritual art. These dedicated people are the real counter-current to that which is touted as 'modern art' by the present art establishment. At last, people who understand, what it is I do. Seeing the very high skill level of these artists, I knew I needed to go and study more. That spring of 2014 I went to Austria, Payerbach to learn painting techniques, Old Masters New Visions: http://www.mischtechnikseminars.com/ from the 'masters of mische', Philip Rubinov Jacobson and Mantra Cora. I think its true to say this has had a big effect on my painting and the strengthening of my confidence and vision. 'Dweller between the Worlds'- acrylic on canvas.
'Cup of Abundance'- Mische oil/egg, I shall Fear No Evil'- Mische oil/egg.

 

'Fear No Evil' (Painting)

'I Shall Fear No Evil' -by Stephanie Tihanyi (painting)
(all copyrights are held by the artist)





Detail 1

'I Shall Fear No Evil'
-by Stephanie Tihanyi (painting)
(all copyrights are held by the artist)

 The title of my painting is 'Fear No Evil'.   Before, I simply called it 'the beast' or 'the  star'  or something. I never really knew what it was going to be called because it was a work that came together and developed, as the painting progressed over many months of meditations. The recent atrocities wrought in this world drew back a veil on its meaning and nature of the words taken as the title, from the bible: Psalms 23, verse 4 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil'





detail2

'I Shall Fear No Evil'
-by Stephanie Tihanyi (painting)
(all copyrights are held by the artist)

detail 3

'I Shall Fear No Evil'
 -by Stephanie Tihanyi (painting)
(all copyrights are held by the artist)

The central figure of the beast, who stands proudly in the gates of purgatory. From under his flaming wings reigns a showers of blood, showing he sheds blood of mankind, where ever he goes. Behind him there is a trail of black flags of fanaticism, hate and violence. Central in the painting, in the back ground is the winged angel of death, who stand with sword planted firmly in front of him. A figure, a woman stands in the intimidating and dominating gaze of the beast but her attention is not there, its caught on a brilliant light, high above the mountains of the darkened valley. The light casts a path of rainbow hued rays. In spite of the peril of , rape, torture, slavery, death, she is safe from the forces of evil, with one hand holding white bloom, signifying purity of spirit, the star of mercy, guides the souls path during the darkest ravines on the way to higher planes




detail 4

'I Shall Fear No Evil' -
by Stephanie Tihanyi (painting)
(all copyrights are held by the artist)

Progress on the latest painting

'I Shall Fear No Evil' -by Stephanie Tihanyi (painting)
(all copyrights are held by the artist)

Still working on this one steadily, in between smaller works. Its coming along in its own way, I have no image of the intended look or content, just letting it develop on its own. Just recently begun to add an angel in the mid top section, it kinda of appeared on its own, I already know it will hang from above, holding a sword down as if marking the boundaries of heaven and hell. Still a lot more to do, but want to finish it, before I present it for viewing at a small opening evening in a local art café, in mid December. It will not be for sale there, but I would like to introduce people to the art work of visionary art.

Continuing the underpainting on the latest painting

Painting "I shall fear no evil" by Stephanie Tihanyi
(all copyrights held by the artist)

For me, to be an artist means being able to see beauty in this world but also being unable to be unaware of the tragedy of the world we live in. As my heart breaks and my outrage ignites over the massacre's, beheadings, slavery and genocide, while the world chooses to stand and watch turns a blind eye to the evil of a religion, I find my paintings becoming very ugly, they now have death, blood and war in them.


I have done some more under painting in the old masters Flemish tradition of egg tempera, this is over an ink and English red earth ground. I hope to have all the under painting done by tomorrow, ready for the first glaze of yellow. I have used my live model sketches for my figure and the plant is a tall frangipani-like, white flowering plant, growing in my garden, of which I am yet to identify.







Painting "I shall fear no evil" by Stephanie Tihanyi
(all copyrights held by the artist)

The Beginning Of A New Painting

Detail of the under painting of my new work- Stephanie Tihanyi

I have begun a new painting. So far, I have only just worked upon the under-painting, following the techniques of the old masters, instructed to me by my professor Philip Rubinov Jacobson, who was directly taught by Ernst Fuchs, the founder of the Viennese school of Fantastic Realism. I started upon a ground of English red earth and egg tempera mixture, and the began to work on the under painting in titanium white and egg tempera. This image to me is very powerful and instinctual. It requires a lot of energy and fortitude to  draw forth this painting, a bit like cycling up a long steep hill emotionally.
Sometimes you look into the light, sometimes you choose to look into the dark...
 today I work on under-painting a detail of my new work, it features the
beast of the apocalypse , its about the beast of ones own apocalypse.  Confronting our darkness of our past, needs a certain level of understanding (light) to be able to make sense of what we uncover, plus courage. I am fascinated with the darker side, it is a mystery, most times a tyrant,  so a worthy opponent to confront. I understand its not a path for everyone. In myths it is the hero, that boldly walks into the depths of Hades to extract the treasure or wisdom or take back something stolen. To the ancient Greeks, the daemonic appears not only through elements “inside” the self—the passions, the blood, but also “outside” the self—in wind, rain, fire, animals. Plato understood, its the dynamic unrest that exists in us all that forces us into the unknown, leading to self-destruction and/or self-discovery. In Japanese Shinto, Buddhist tradition its known as theTengu.

The best book on Visionary Art 'Drinking Lightening- Art, Creativity & Transformation

me with Phil's book 'Drinking Lightening- Art, Creativity & Transformation'

I received it at last, by ocean freight, Philip Rubinov Jacobson 's book Drinking Lightning: Art, Creativity and Transformation Where he accounts his own journey into and discovery of the art and artists, of 'the invisible tribe' of Visionary Artists. A linage that tracks far back through the ages and across the globe. An historically important, a now steadily re- connecting tribe, who's existence still remains largely ignored and
denied by the art establishment today.

My painting: Cup of Abundance is finished

 Its my first one that is in the new technique of oil/egg tempera of the Old Masters. A technique I learnt from Prof. Philip Rubinov Jacobson at the workshop in Vienna this year. Its on canvas and the size is 24X30 inches:






Cup of Abundance -by Stephanie Tihanyi
 

This is my painting, The Cup of Abundance is finished  In the  painting, the Peacock Colored Angel hold the Holy Grail to all who can sees spiritual light, traversing from afar into the realm of the Kingdom of Nature, where the laws of life and death are set in place, Souls, like moths flock around, drawn by the light and heat, desiring to be consumed by the flame of eternal love and carried to realm of softer, higher vibrations.

After reading The Conference of the Birds or Speech of the Birds, Written in 1177, in Persian by the poet Farid ud-Din Attar, who is commonly known as Attar of Nishapur.  It is a poem about the king of the birds (souls) leading them to enlightenment. I became interested with the symbol and tradition of the Pheonix.
 In Persian its known as Simurgh (/ˌsɪˈmərɡ/; Persian: سیمرغ sɪmorγ), also spelled simorgh, simurg, simoorg or simourv, is a benevolent, mythical flying creature. It is sometimes equated with other mythological birds such as Arabic Anqā (عنقا) or Persian Homā (Persian: هما‎). The figure can be found in all periods of Greater Iranian art and literature and is also evident in the iconography of medieval Armenia .  The mythical bird is also found in the mythology of the Turkic peoples of Central Asia and is called Kerkés, Semrug, Semurg, Samran, and Samruk.^[3][4] The word was also borrowed into Armenian as siramarg ‘peacock’.

Old Masters New Visions Painting Seminar Payerbach, Austria 2014


 In March this year I decided to go to Austria, to take part in the Old Visions New Masters painting workshop, run by the visionary artist, writer, philosopher and teacher, Professor Philip Rubinov Jacobson. Prof. Phil, as he is known affectionately by his students, teaches the traditional painting techniques of the Old Flemish Masters and early Renaissance painters of the 14th and 15th century. These were artists such as, Botticelli, Jan Van Eyck, Messina, Hugo van der Goes, Andre Mantegna, Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Altdorfer, Hans Holbein, Pieter Bruegel and many others. These Renaissance techniques are still considered to be the finest in the history of painting.

Jan van Eyck-
 Giovanni Arnolfini and his bride

Leonardo da Vinci-
Madonna of the Rocks

 I had long achieved a measure of mastery with modeling paint and a high degree to realism in my work but had for some time, struggled to find a way to achieve a greater depth, luminosity and light. I had got the bright colors, yes, but my shadows seemed flat and without depth, I needed to progress my painting technique. I read about the mische technique after I joined the visionary art collective, called The Society of Art of the Imagination, (AOI). The founder is the British fantastic realist, artist Brigid Marlin. Like Brigid, Prof. Phil, studied in Vienna under the world renowned Austrian visionary artist, Ernst Fuchs .

The techniques of the old Masters were considered lost to history by the 20th century and it was Ernst Fuchs, along with Arik Brauer, Rudolf Hausner, Wolfgang Hutter, Anton Lehmden and Fritz Janschka, who began to research the Old Master’s painting methods. All were students of Albert Paris von Gutersloh. It was Gutersloh’s emphasis on the techniques of the old masters, that influenced their painting technique and a small revival was born among the visionary artists. 1946, they founded the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism. In addition to his own research, Ernst studied the manuscripts of Max Doerner(1870–1939) a German artist and art theorist, who wrote The Materials of the Artist and Their Use in Painting published in 1921. Doerner Institute

Ernst Fuchs

After 1954, with Fuchs's fame spreading in Europe and the UK , many artists came from America to Vienna, including Professor Phil, and others, such as, Bob Venosa, Mati Klarwein, Joseph Askew, Brigid Marlin, Bob Venosa, Herbert Ossberger, Linda Gardner, Clayton Campbell, Hanna Kay, Sandra Reamer and Olga Speigel, and many others. They were joined later by artists from around the world and a new World-wide Art Movement was formed.
About the Mische technique. Is a method of painting with egg tempera, used in combination with oil based paints and resins to render a luminous, resonant realism. The egg yolk of the egg tempera is a naturally occurring emulsion of water and oil. As such, the old masters found ways of extending the natural advantages of its emulsion to create lean, siccative, smoothly transitional and semi-transparent layers of paint. The visual effects created by working in the mixed technique essentially rely upon the phenomenon of light refracting through many subsequent layers of paint that are luminous and jewel-like


On Wednesday, June 11th, I flew first to Miami from St. Maarten in the afternoon and then in the evening, took the night flight to London. I am not a fan of travel though I do like seeing new places, but airports, train and bus terminals are hectic, busy, noisy stressful places, with delays, unexpected changes etc, and who the heck sleeps on overnight flights? I was glad to arrived in London on Thursday morning where I was met by my stepdad who drove me to my late mother’s house in Luton.  I had just enough time the next day to get some art materials I needed for the course in the town center. These were things I couldn't get on my little island St.Maarten, such as a varied selection of brushes, oil colors, permanent inks and other stuff. At 2am on Saturday morning, I took a bus to Stanstead and flew to Vienna very early.



The walk on the road to Payerbach
 from Gloggnitz

With instructions emailed to me from the Professor, from the airport, I managed to locate the train to Payer-Reichenau. Apparently there are two trains, an inexpensive slow one (snail ban) and a fast one expensive one. Conserving cash, I took the slow one. I arrived in Payerbach around midday.




 
Payerbach is a little Austria town nestled in a valley below the Rax mountain range of the alps, about an hour or half drive from Vienna. Its famous for the Semmering Railway, and the town had been long been a vacation spot for the Austrian imperial family and other celebrities of Viennese high society, such as the famed Austrian psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud.

 I had a reservation at the Hotel Payerbacherhof and once I got off the train it was just a little walk to the hotel. It was extremely quiet I walked into reception and found no one except a huge yellow Labrador laying across the hallway, he came to greet me in a friendly fashion. Eventually some one came out of a doorway. It was the son of the owner. He helped me take my luggage up to where I would stay for the duration of the workshop. I had booked the shared female dormitory. This turned out to be a very large room in the attic, with a number of beds in it.

I was the very first one of the students to arrive, even the Prof and his partner artist Mantra Cora, were not arriving till the next day. It was nice weather to walk and explore but I was exhausted. I just wanted to lay down and sleep. The attic had beautiful old wooden floors and wooden beams, the roof was full of many skylights, that gave great views of the mountains and surrounding area and plenty of light, too much light, actually it was blinding with sunshine. A housekeeper came up the stairs pulling a ladder, with black trash bags and tape to cover the windows for me. After seeing her small frame, nervously wobbling around on the ladder; I ended up doing them by myself, rather than see her injure herself. With a darkened room, alone, it was utter bliss to take a nap knowing I didn’t have to take a plane somewhere soon. Sometime in the evening, I went down to the restaurant and got a nice thick bowl of Hungarian goulash with a glass of local red wine. It did the trick and I slept well. 

The next day I meet the Prof. and Mantra Cora in the lobby. We only had time to exchange short greetings before they had to return to Vienna, to take back the rental car they had used to transporting here, all the materials for the course. They would then come back on the train. During the day I took a pleasant walk along the Schwarza river, admiring the mountains, meadows and forested hills. I walked in one direction towards the next town Gloggnitz, following the little road along the railway track and then I took a walk later in the other direction into another town, Reichenau.  The weather was beautifully warm and sunny. In time I met another student Romanie who came from Ibiza and Dakini from Amsterdam. We all ended up in the attic together, which we eventually dubbed the the ‘creaky attic’ on account of the ancient floorboards.

 

 

to be continued