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Check-In
- Grounding Practice
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Intro to Agnes Martin
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Prompts, Reflection, & Breakouts
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Group Share & Closing
- Begin with a blank page—physical (paper, sketchbook) or digital (tablet, notes app). This is your space to explore.
- Draw a grid, but let it be organic. It doesn’t need to be perfect. Let the lines or marks emerge naturally, as if you’re tracing a rhythm rather than constructing a structure.
- Follow the movement as you would follow your breath.
- Let your marks mirror an inhale and exhale—slow, steady, rhythmic.
- Notice how your hand moves as you make each stroke.
- If your thoughts drift, gently bring your attention back to the act of drawing, just as you would in meditation.
- Explore different paces and approaches:
- Go slowly. Make deliberate, spacious marks. Notice how slowness feels.
- Go fast. Move quickly, without overthinking. How does speed shift your experience?
- Switch hands. Try using your non-dominant hand. Does this bring more freedom or resistance?
- Layer marks and space. Allow yourself to create density or emptiness as needed.
- If words feel more natural, write them into your grid. Let them be brief—single words, phrases, or even repetitions of the same word.
- Pause when it feels complete.
Agnes Martin
This week is about simplicity as an act of rest. Agnes Martin shows us that doing less—paring down, removing excess—can open space for clarity and ease.
Simplicity isn’t about deprivation; it’s about focus. What remains when we strip away what is unnecessary? What quiet truths emerge when we let go of excess?
Agnes Martin (1912–2004) was an American abstract painter known for her minimalist style and abstract expressionism
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A student of Buddhism, she saw art as a practice of presence
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Born in Canada (1912), but made her home in the deserts of New Mexico
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Withdrew from the New York art scene in 1967 to live in solitude
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Believed art shold be about feeling, not intellect
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Her paintings—meditative gris, luminous washes—capture stillness
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Lived a deeply ascetic life, rejecting distraction in favor of focus
- Saw simplicity as a path to clarity, freedom, and deep creative rest
Agnes Martin on the rooftop of her New York studio with Ellsworth Kelly (left) and Jack Youngerman.
- Art as Meditation: Her grids were not about precision but presence—each line an act of quiet devotion.
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Ritual & Repetition: She painted in structured, rhythmic gestures. Eventually she wore a daily uniform—Bibb coveralls either with a long or short-sleeved insulated t-shirt.
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Beauty in Subtlety: Faint lines, soft washes, and near-invisible variations invite slow looking and deep attention.
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Less as More: She saw simplicity as a way to access purity of feeling, stripping away excess to reveal essence.
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A Quiet Rebellion: In a world that glorifies noise and complexity, she turned toward stillness, spaciousness, and restraint.
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Imperfection & Humanity: Though they appear precise, her grids are subtly hand-drawn, embracing the organic and the human.
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On Meaning: She rejected narrative, saying her work was not about anything—only about experiencing calm and joy.
Agnes On Simplicity
Simplicity as Freedom
“We are in the midst of reality responding with joy. It is that simple.”
Letting Go of Complexity
“There are so many people who don’t know what they want. And they want so much. They want a car, they want a dress, they want a lot of friends. I was like that once. But I found out it doesn’t work.”
The Art of Reduction
“To live truly and effectively, it is necessary to get rid of everything that is not essential to one’s life. Absolutely everything.”
Simplicity as a Discipline
“You must clean and clear your mind, and then—at least a few times—you can stay in that perfect state and let nothing distract you. It’s very hard, but it’s worth it.”
The Power of Absence
“When I draw horizontal lines, they are not symbols of anything. They are the experience of innocence, the experience of happiness, and the experience of being completely free.”
Leaving Everything Behind (1967): Walked away from fame, sold all her possessions, and embarked on a two-year road trip in search of solitude.
Settling in New Mexico: Found sanctuary in the quiet vastness of the desert, drawn to its stillness and isolation.
Built Her Own Home: With no formal construction experience, she laid adobe bricks by hand and constructed her house from the ground up.
A Life Without Distraction: Lived with no electricity or phone, embracing a daily rhythm of silence, simplicity, and deep focus.
Work as Meditation: Her days followed a monastic-like discipline—early morning walks, painting, and quiet reflection.
The Desert as Rest: She saw her retreat not as an escape, but as a radical act of clarity—paring down to make space for what truly mattered.
Said No to Art World Pressures: Turned down commissions, rejected the commercial art market, and worked only when inspiration struck.
- Did you find yourself returning to a certain pattern, word, or mark? What might that pattern reveal?
- If this grid were a reflection of your inner world right now, what does it tell you? How can you center emotion rather than pure explanation?
“To live truly and effectively, it is necessary to get rid of everything that is not essential to one’s life.”
Agnes Martin’s life was a practice in removing distraction—she left behind the art world, built a home by hand, and painted only when inspiration struck. She believed clarity came not from adding more, but from letting go.
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What in your life feels like excess noise—clutter, commitments, expectations?
- Imagine a simpler version of your life. What comes to mind when you picture it? What does it feel like?