Why Art?
I write about this extensively in the chapter “Return from the Living Dead” in my book Confessions of a Middle-Aged Hippie, as well as in many of my online articles, especially “Finding Inner Peace Through Art“.
We are all hard-wired for creativity and throughout my life, I have been an analytical and logical thinker, yet people saw me as a creative person, a word magician, when expressing myself through writing. I’ve always engaged my creativity through music and art as well. Writing songs has been a lifelong passion of mine and I love creating short stories in song. When I was at one of the lowest points in my life relating to my health, I found Arscura – School for Living Art and Regine Kurek, who I credit with helping to save my life. Literally.
This is a very small sampling of some of the pieces I’ve created through my work with Arscura over a twelve-year period. They are all colour pieces, even though we worked in multiple mediums including black and white and clay as well. I’ve learned that the soul speaks through colour and I have come to see myself as someone who expresses who I am through colour everywhere in my life.
One of my favourite of all processes is the collage and you’ll see four different finished works. It is interesting to engage in creating satisfying finished pieces of artwork, only to have to let go and deconstruct them by ripping, tearing and cutting them up. With those new pieces you move to reconstruct an unimaginable new work, one that comes by creating in the moment, from what you have. The results are always a wonderful surprise!
I encourage everyone to flex your own creative muscle and to enjoy the process of making art or music, or whatever excites and uplifts you.
Make Art! Be Creative! The World Needs You!