What a Lovely Surprise

Imagine my surprise when I began to read the following, a post from friend, mental health professional and blogger, Susan Carrell (the DIY Therapist):

STRATEGIES for LIVING WELL
Copyright 2007-2012 © by Susan Carrell
All rights reserved
From Susan@CarrellCounseling.com

February 2013

Art
A human creative skill or its application

Everyone is an artist and so are you. If you haven’t named and claimed your particular art form, maybe it’s time you did.

Art enables us to make some of the mystery inside us tangible. Parts of yourself that you may not even know exist suddenly spring to life, right in front of you.

Last month two dear friends of mine had gallery shows. In my book, if you have a gallery show, there’s no doubt that you are an artist. Both of my friends are painters.

John Wehmer is a mountain neighbor. I get to watch his work in process as he creates picture after picture of the mountain range just beyond his front deck. Every picture is unique as he captures the varying times of day and season of the same landscape. Sometimes soft golds and yellows dominate his work, other times, pinks, blues and lavenders set the theme. Some depictions are sharp edged while others have soft subtle outlines. His recent show features my neighbor’s “early work”. Imagine my surprise when I saw that screaming bright colors and hard angular lines characterized the abstract/modern styled paintings. Most were on huge canvases. I think there’s more to John than I knew! You can see for yourself. Go to http://www.thomasmccormick.com and click on upcoming exhibitions.

I did not know that my friend, Penny, was an artist. I knew her as a thoughtful, deep person; an avid reader and career woman. I knew her as a wife and mother. But when her paintings were hung in the gallery, I saw another side of this remarkable person. Florals burst into bloom and delicious bigger-than-life fruit collections jumped off the wall. Her sense of color and celebration could not be contained. In an email she told me that she had such bliss in her life and “…found great joy in painting”. It is obvious! Check out her blog at: http://theunexpectedadventurer.blogspot.com/.

I never considered myself an artist of any kind, and always joked that I was born to appreciate other people’s artistic endeavors. But it’s not true. I write and I cook and I’ve discovered that both are forms of art. When I write something and look back to see what I just said, I’m often surprised at what I see on the page. Sometimes, it’s an expression of a feeling hidden even from me. More often, the surprise comes in the words I’ve chosen to illustrate a point. I also find great joy in preparing food for people I love. I can express affection or appreciation more with an attractive, delicious meal than I can in most any other way.

How do you express yourself? It may simply be in the way you dress, use accessories or style your hair. It could be in the way you decorate and arrange your home. Maybe you do handwork—crochet, knit or needlepoint. Perhaps you are drawn to woodworking. Does scrapbooking count? Absolutely. If you’ve always wanted to take a class in pottery or photography, what’s stopping you?

Anything you do that allows you to share some creative part of yourself with others is art. Art is about expression and discovery. You express yourself in your own unique way. In the process, you can discover something about yourself and the world discovers something about you.