July 28, 2000

Dear Maria,

Leonardo da Vinci claimed only that he wished to work miracles. Behind that lofty
goal there were a few principles. They are as valuable today as they were in
1500. Here they are as I understand them:

Curiositia-Make curiosity the core of your life; have a personal and self-motivated
quest for learning.

Dimostrazione-Test knowledge through experience; be prepared to make mistakes,
and be persistent about it.

Sensazione-Refine and develop all the senses, especially sight, for the advancement
and enlivening of experience.

Sfumato-Welcome and triumph ambiguity, paradox, mystery, uncertainty and contradiction.

Arte-Scienza-Understand the balance between science and art, logic and imagination,
method and intuition.

Corporalita-Work on fitness, grace and poise; develop ambidexterity, multi-tasking
and multi-tracking.

Connessione-Appreciate the interconnectedness of all things in natural phenomena
and see the big picture.

A recent book which was not mentioned by anyone in the poll is called "How to
Think Like Leonardo da Vinci." Michael Gelb gives exercises based on the systems
of Leonardo for the purpose of raising your IQ, sharpening your senses, finding
out just what kind of a genius you are. I recommend it.

Best regards,
Robert

PS "Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity, and in cold weather
becomes frozen: even so does inaction sap the vigors of the mind."(Leonardo da
Vinci)

Esoterica: Sfumato: It's also an Italian art-term which literally means "smoke-like."
It was used particularly in the Renaissance to describe the uncanny and almost
imperceptible gradation that some artists were able to achieve, especially in
the rendering of skin.

Thanks for the material that is still coming in after the request for your favorite
art books. We've made a list of the ones that creative people are reading right
now. If you would like to take a look at this and selected correspondence relating
to the previous letter about art books please go to
http://www.painterskeys.com/clickbacks/books.htm

If you would like to comment on the above letter or add your own experience or
opinions, please do so. Thank you for writing rgenn@saraphina.com

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