“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Through last week, also, Jane had enjoyed a burst of painting activity after a rather long time away from it. She enjoyed herself doing these pictures very much, and we discussed them at length. She sensed a conflict between what she wanted to portray, and her limited technical abilities in getting the actual images on canvas. I thought her work was better than ever, surprisingly so, and that her ideas were good and her extremely personal handling of them in paint very fresh. Jane persisted in thinking of her paintings as childish.

(We had company after supper. Before this couple left, Bill Macdonnel dropped in. Jane, Bill and I were eventually left alone, and since Bill is also an artist, the three of us joined a rather animated discussion of Jane’s latest work. It lasted for perhaps an hour.

(Here, I would like to call attention to my dream of September 18, 1964. See page 47. Seth has discussed this dream in considerable detail, without saying much about the opening sequence of the dream. In this opening sequence, Jane, Bill, the members of the Potter family, and myself, were gathered in a living room. I was pulling out some of Jane’s drawings and paintings and showing them to Bill, and Jane, Bill and I were animatedly discussed them. Particularly did we express surprise over their high quality. It then struck me this evening that the discussion between Jane, Bill and I, over Jane’s new work, bore some rather remarkable parallels to that opening dream sequence, and I wondered whether that portion of the dream could have been clairvoyant. Seth may comment on this in the next scheduled session. The main difference between the dream and “reality”, of course, is that the Potter family was not present this evening.

(After the session Bill finished for Jane and me the “press-release” kind of account about his gallery that he’d worked on while we talked before the session. This can be used for radio and newspaper publicity. He signs his paintings by his middle name, Cameron. Bill wrote:

(The purpose of the gallery is to provide an outlet for painters, sculptors, and ceramacists to bring their work before the community. These artists will be welcome to arrange for one-and-two-man showings. Group shows will also be featured in the future. Interested area artists can contact Mr. Macdonnel between 1:00 and 3:00PM on Saturdays and Sundays at the gallery.

(The Grand Opening exhibition will consist of a two-man show of sculpture by Harold Spaulding and Walter Buhr, two well-known Binghamton-area artists. Along with this Mr. Macdonnel will have on display some of his oils, watercolors, and graphics. Walter Buhr has had his work shown in numerous galleries in New York State as well as in Pennsylvania. He is starting a sculpture class as well as working at his own sculpturing. The media he works in range from terra cotta to bronze to wood. Harold Spaulding has exhibited at the Roberson Gallery in Binghamton, and has participated in a two-man show at Two Rivers Gallery in that city. He has had a one-man show at I.B.M. in Owego, New York. His art has also been exhibited at Arnot Art Gallery in Elmira in group shows, and in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

(Cameron Macdonnel is a graduate of the State University College of Education at Buffalo, New York, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree. He has had his work exhibited in many galleries in Buffalo, including A.M.A.’s Gallery, J.N.’s Gallery, Encores Gallery, and Carl Briedmier’s Gallery. His work received favorable reviews in both the Buffalo Evening News by Trevor Thomas [well-known English art critic], and in the Buffalo Sun Bulletin by Larry Griffis.

(Later, resting on bed after work with eyes closed, saw a quick but rather violent vision of a round, very bright daylight-type light. But this light seemed to be clearer than daylight, and to be almost like a mirror that was reflecting another mirror. At the same time it spun around, or else the dark area around it spun around, with a sudden violence that actually made me dizzy. Yet the whole thing was incredibly brief.)