“An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.” James McNeill Whistler
Or her vision, in my case.
I just finished week one of a two-week training program to become certified as a peer support specialist in the state of California. Not exactly art-related.
Or is it?
"The Father," part of "Dangerous Angels" series, oil and digital painting
Actually, the course is absolutely about my art--as much as the portrait painting workshop I took last fall with Joseph Q. Daily. I have several main tracks in my life--painting, writing, and personal development/mental health. These last few years, I've been combining all three.
I'm not alone in this. Most artists I know are as passionate about other interests as they are about their medium. Once you open up to the creative flow in one area, curiosity leads you to the next thing, and the next one. And they all feed each other. Every skill you learn, every path you pursue, every book you read contributes to your vision. Who I am as a person is inseparable from who I am as an artist.
"Mandala Blade 40," from the "Spirit Tools" series, oil paint on vintage metal
I chose this workshop because I'm curious about how I can use art and my lived experience to help more people. It's no different from the process of art-making. My work focuses on emotions, connections, spirituality. I've used it to process trauma, explore dreams, make sense of memory, and map the terrain of my spirit.
And that's exactly what I do with people I teach--artists, sober travelers, those who struggle with self-harming. My experiences become the tools that I share with fellow creators so they can paint their own narratives. It's all connected
"The Dream," oil on canvas
I'm curious, what connections do you see in your life? If you're an artist, what non-art passions fuel your creative work? If you don't consider yourself an artist, where is your work creative? Feel free to drop me a line.
Art Heals
I've mentioned Meinrad Craighead a few times in these newsletters--she's one of my favorites. My mother turned me on to her work. She was a Catholic nun for a period of time, but her belief system was much more personal and universal. She described an awakening she had while gazing into her dog's eyes in a forest:
“They were as deep, as bewildering, as unattainable as a night sky,” she said of the eyes, and as she stared she felt a rush of water coming from deep within her. “I listened to the sound of the water inside, saw a woman’s face, and understood: This is God. Because she was a force living within me, she was more real, more powerful than the remote ‘Father’ I was educated to have faith in. We hid together inside the structures of institutional Catholicism. Through half a lifetime of Catholic liturgies, during school years, in my professional work as an educator, for 14 years in a monastery, she lived at my inmost center, the groundsill of my spirituality.”
