Art as the Sublime - with Micheal Prettyman

Do you consider making art a spiritual practice? The opening night of Olio in NYC last month featured a thought provoking workshop from one of New York's finest painters (in my humble opinion) and teachers, Micheal Prettyman.

Olio's new space was simply cozy, lovely and kind of perfect.

What is this Olio you ask ? https://www.olio.rsvp - I think they are certainly worth a deeper glance.

The Olio crew

Well, I honestly had no clue who the Olio group was, but I do know that, whenever Micheal Prettyman is involved with something, I've learned over the years, to try my best to appear there.

Micheal has been a part of Olio for quite some time, and has taught workshops for them several times.

And since I stay inspired by Micheal what he has to share pretty much always, I knew I had to make an effort to go to his work shop - Sitting with the Sublime: Art as Spiritual Practice

I took a lot of notes during this workshop, and I relaized I had NO CLUE what the word SUBLIME really meant - SO! HERE IS THE LITERAL DEFINITION ::

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Sublime

adjective :: sublimer; sublimest

a: lofty, grand, or exalted in thought, expression, or manner

b : of outstanding spiritual, intellectual, or moral worth

c : tending to inspire awe usually because of elevated quality (as of beauty, nobility, or grandeur) or transcendent excellence.

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I certainly thought it was worth sharing the words I jotted down from this fascinating artist gathering -- So, here we go ::

"The world is always changing and we must change with it."

"It’s a privilege to share my breakthroughs with you."

"I’ve always been a seeker - I would wait for hours in the woods for big foot."

"Drugs will show you things then take it away."

"Visual artists and poets are the ones who brought the sublime to the western world."

"A threshold is an opening or an opportunity."

"The most interesting things happen in the middle of a paradox."

"What’s makes an artist an artist is the capacity for wonder…"

"Can art induce the sublime? I say no…" (But I say yes!)

"It hurt me to not make paintings about climate change." (And we hope you never stop, MP.)

"The work of art is not a work of art until it is witnessed."

"Open space is meant to elevate the spirit."

(And it absolutely does.)

"It’s tough for our morality to accept that destruction is beautiful. You have to understand that destruction is part of it too."

(Everything is absolutely impermanent And isn't there so much beauty in this?)

"Invite people into a painting without being too obvious."

(I REALLY LOVE THIS QUOTE AND THIS SENTIMENT! YES, YES AND MORE YES.)

"We don’t support our artists like they used to in old Europe..."

(I FOR ONE HAVE NEVER CONSIDERED THIS. Imagine the bounty and skill level and investment in the arts that would take place if people valued creator like they did many, many years ago)

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Thank you again, Micheal for inspiring us. Looking forward to doing a more formal interview with you in 2026.

-- Agent Peach