Morning Art

Art therapy is a topic that seems to be quite popular today. It is an area that I hold a great deal of interest in, yet from a formal text book understanding I know little about. There is scarce doubt that from  personal experience the act of creating art is an activity that is filled with healing and self renewal.

I have suffered from cervical and lumbar osteoarthritis for a great deal of time and  the symptoms are most severe mornings and evenings. This chronic condition demands a resolute desire to fight back with a multidisciplinary approach. Art is one of the tools in the shed that can and should be used on a daily basis. These moments of discomfort are excellent times to enter into the creative process.  Pain is in constant demand for ones attention and the act of focusing on any piece of creativity begins to lessen that grip.

It is not even that important that a person attempt to manufacture a masterpiece, rather that they continue along the most important aspect of their lives; to create. The piece I put together this morning is from a method I call disparate image collage. Next week I intend to speak of this self created method and my art theory that surrounds it. Suffice it for today that it is the end result of a hot cup of coffee and my desire to think outside of pain. It works, if only temporarily, and you as an artist add to your body of work. The precious little girl is Victoria, a huge joy in my life posing for one of my favorite portraits of her.               

Mother Mary and the two bomber jets.

This particular piece of work I produced several years back to be part of a local art show. The element that provides interest is the juxtaposing of these three visual elements. Collages that incorporate disparate  elements, compel the viewer to compose and analyse visual images in an effort to develop meaning. Subjective thought is king, for it weaves a tapestry of relevance with images that are mandated to be neighbors.

Some artists refuse to speak about what the meaning of their own work is, feeling that in some manner it will take away from the viewers experience. In many respects I sense that this is a fallacy. Based on this reasoning we could conclude that that we are better able to think, if we do not darken the door of a university or a library. Good quality thinking always comes about through the free expression of words and ideas. When we listen to the artists meaning of a particular piece of work we invite the creator to stimulate our cognition. We then decide what to discard and what to embrace and then formulate our own unique critique. Layer upon layer, with patient thought and reasoned articulation we begin to create life in a work of art that did not exist previously. All that is required is a trained eye, a desire for meaning, and a way in which to convey our thoughts. In short, what we need is a desire to give of ourselves to the artist much more than a cursory glace. This is a tall order in our fast paced digital world were freedom of speech is sought after yet rarely used in the aesthetic world. Even less used is the sacred right to express freedom of thought.

This piece, Mother Mary and the two bomber jets, obviously has some meaning to me, the artist, yet rather than be too specific I will make some generalizations that could inspire thoughts regarding meaning.  The fighter bombers are flying in downward position yet Mother Mary is elevating upward. Bomber jets are black and white, more black than white. Mary is colorful showing life power over death, hope over despair. The downward images are contained within the boarder frame, Mary on the other hand has broken the bonds of the frame in  her ascension. All three are flying in air yet in distinctly different directions. Has Mary caused the direction of the Jets or are they flying independently of her power? The Jets are images that are flat, dark and scanned images. Despite being scanned, Mary displays an image that utilizes colored thread to show her almost three dimensional aspects. What is the relationship of the sacred to the secular? 

It does not have to be good art to make us think, yet art that makes us think has value. Is it better to be good or of value?