The Spirit Of Art
When I moved to Phoenix, I came across a little article
in the Artscene Newspaper. That article had been written by a wonderful
lady. Her name is Mary Juharos. Her husband is a painter and they own a
gallery in Sedona by the name of TREASURE ART GALLERY.
In her article Mary talks
about her husband who was dependent on selling art for his livelihood
during the after war period in Europe. This was a very difficult time for people struggling
to rebuild their lives. Of course they lacked everything and their energy
was really being challenged. Mary’s husband tells the story of a
woman who had been saving money to buy a coat, and instead decided to buy
a painting of his because, though the coat was a prime necessity, she
decided that owning a piece of art was more important as it would help
her heal her soul. Stephen and Mary could tell you many stories of the
kind.
I was touched by that
article. Probably the reason Mary’s writing resonated in me so
deeply is that when I lived in Africa, my life was very stressful and, definitely, what
helped me keep my sanity was doing my art and visiting and buying from
local artists.
It is true that during
stressful periods, or periods when the economy is slow we tend to think
that art is a luxury, not a necessity. And we are so wrong. Art is an
absolute necessity and we don’t even realize that we are surrounded
by art in nature.
What is the Grand Canyon or an ocean view with palm trees
and sandy beaches, or a high mountain covered with snow, or a field of
wheat and poppies if it is not the Creator’s art? This kind of art,
as we have all experienced at least once in our life, can help sooth our
soul – by the way you know of course that body and mind are one: Act
upon the mind and the body will recover…
Because Nature’s
artwork is grand and constant, though everything is ever-changing, but
what is a thousand years for a mountain range or an ocean? meditating in
front of Nature’s artwork can bring us a sense of peace and harmony
as well as a sense of relativity in our personal scale of values.
Another thing we tend to
forget is that a society is defined by it’s art: Through making art
we transmit our society’s values to young generations and through
looking at art from other societies, other cultures, we can catch a
glimpse at what they are or were if we consider the art of lost
civilizations, and we can discover things that we might otherwise
overlook or pass by. Art can be positive and harmonious to the eyes or it
can be puzzling and intellectually challenging.
If 100 artists are given
one subject matter to treat in an art form you can be sure that you will
get 100 different interpretations of that subject because each artist
will embrace it with his own emotions and translate his feelings into a
piece of art for you to look at; You will be touched by the beauty or
open your mind to different avenues, as in a conversation with another
person expressing something you hadn’t thought of, or even get a
sense of spirituality and feel connected to the Universe.
Have you ever looked at a
painting or a sculpture or any piece of art and felt a string vibrate in
you?.....have you?
I know a lady, here in
the US, who has a print of the French Riviera
in her office, and every time she feels the stress building up, she jumps
into the sea. She says it is a cheap way to travel, and it is efficient.
Or what about about that
client of mine who had skin cancer and ordered a sidelight because her
Feng Shui practitioner told her that she should put a SG window in that
particular spot for healing purposes, through the exposure to specific
colors, and she needed blue, red and purple.
BLUE is soothing, calming, spacious. With blue you can step back and elevate
yourself at the same time, it brings about idealism.
RED, aside from it’s properties on the blood stream, gives the
courage and strength to act.
PURPLE brings a shape to the impulse. Through purple the sacred touches
matter, it gives an energy that channels towards a concrete form, it
destroys illusions, makes the goal clear and helps act firmly upon it
without emotion.
Another time I made a
piece for someone and incorporated very deeply textured glass and
minerals, and that man gave me what I thought was the best compliment: He
said “it is a very powerful piece” and he had tears in his
eyes.
I have another client for
whom I installed a window the day before she was leaving on a trip that
she wasn’t looking forward to. She Emailed me at 5 in the morning
before going to the airport and wrote “I got up earlier and I have
been sitting and meditating in front of your art piece and I gathered the
strength I need for that long and tiring trip, thank you”.
You may know that we
don’t just see colors, we feel them, physically, mentally and
emotionally, and spiritually they empower us.
I hope that I emphasized that doing art or buying art is definitely part
of a healing approach. In fact, I teach stained glass, and the first time
a student told me that she loved my classes because it was a great
therapy, I was a bit surprised because back then I hadn’t thought
of it that way, but now, all my students have told me the same thing at
one point or another. Doing art yourself involves your whole body and
mind. What could be more wonderful?
Surfing the web once, I
discovered a program called A WINDOW BETWEEN WORLDS that uses art as a
healing tool, helping battered women and children to transition out of a
painful past into safety, power, possibility and identity.
So let’s open up
our eyes and heart to the marvels of art around us, whether it is
nature’s or man’s work and let us be healed, for even if we
are not sick, we all need a little soothing after a day’s work.
The French painter Henri
Matisse said “Les couleurs sont des forces” which means
“colours are strengths”
More information about Visions By Olivia can be found here.
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