“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Too many compromises do sap your strength and energy, and the work compromise was inhibiting your painting to some extent. The focus upon compromise automatically forces you to withhold directness and energy in all of your pursuits. After a while despite yourself you take on to some extent the coloration and attitudes of others who live by compromise entirely, until your own clear-cut ideas and purposes seem more and more unrealistic.

There is some envy. You did not say that you intended to devote yourself to your own painting, and this should be verbalized. The family compromises began long ago, out of a misguided sense of sympathy, and now to some extent or another will continue. Here you are caught in a compromise of emotions. Ruburt feels this particularly strongly, because he is so sensitive over such relationships to begin with. The situation however is such that almost any clear emotion is automatically denied expression, shunted aside and often replaced completely by an opposite—all under the guise of the idea of (in quotes) “being good and understanding.”

(“For the last couple of years I’ve been wondering about my strong interest in the painting of Rembrandt van Rijn. When I was a young man in New York City I even saw some of it in the museums, but I don’t recall being that affected by it then. I might vaguely recall some of it, but that’s all.”

Florence. (In Italy.) The master wants to get the same feeling of bulk and three-dimensional weight and size from flat painting—molding color rather than rock. They think it cannot be done. He is fascinated by the concept.

Out of his desire he applies energy (gestures) and color over it, so that the paintings have then the reality he hopes for.

(Rembrandt’s technique has been the subject of much speculation over the centuries. Especially when he took to piling pigment up to a thickness of a quarter of an inch in such paintings as “The Jewish Bride”—a masterwork. It is thought he used stand oil—heat-treated linseed oil—and varnish of various kinds as a medium. If he added anything else to his pigments it would be well worth learning about.)

(All of this is very acute artistic information, and embodies the use of good technique even today. Again, I don’t believe Jane knows these things consciously. The varnish data is very good, also the fresco material. Many frescos were ruined in those days through poor techniques. Quality control was not what it is today re paints, varnishes, etc.)

Attempts to paint sculpts however that were often for outdoor use sometimes resulted not only in running together color, but in a mold that built up between layers of color.

(I know little about efforts to paint sculpts, but the above sounds very possible, re the mold.)

(I am still much interested in the technical side of painting, so much so that a few years ago I drew back from getting too involved in this aspect lest I spend too much time at it, detracting from the painting itself. I still conduct experiments, though.

(I also work, usually, with one color layer over another, rather than mixing them while wet. This maintains purity and clarity of color—and has been considered sound painting technique over the years.)

(In those days, tubes for paints did not exist—all color had to be prepared fresh each day by the artist or assistants, from dry pigment. Varnish was often used as an ingredient in mediums. There are and were, many kinds of varnish. A slight lead content in a varnish sounds quite possible.)

You also experimented with inserting odors into pigment, very briefly, for churches, so that a violet for example would smell like the flower. You would mix ground rose petals into the red pigment to be used for a painting of roses.

(Any such experiments with adding odors to paint would fail, I believe. Even today, as far as I know, this hasn’t been accomplished.

(The Rembrandt data is surprising, and raises many questions. According to Seth I lived in Denmark in the 1600’s. I was a painter as a younger man, then gave it up for the more respectable role of a farmer, at which I was quite successful. I do not know whether I traveled to Italy, or at what point in my life age-wise. Perhaps I was there before giving up active painting. I believe I farmed in Denmark, but there is much here that we don’t know. Denmark and Holland of course are close geographically.

(Perhaps I carried out some of my experiments with painting the outdoor sculpture in Denmark, where winter weather must be considered, after visiting Italy. While I discussed the Florence, Italy, data with Jane after the session, Seth returned very briefly re Rembrandt:That is why he went to Florence—to see the sculpture there. Perhaps after my return to Denmark from Italy I did some experimenting re painting sculptures, and then passed this information on to Rembrandt?