The Healing Power of Art
May 20, 2008
Recently I was privileged to participate in Florida’s Forgotten Coast Plein Air
Invitational which took place in the Apalachicola Bay area May 8-18, 2008.
Presented by the Gulf Alliance for Local Arts, this is one of the Sunshine
State’s premier art events. Twenty professional artists from Florida and
beyond painted on location in such places as Eastpoint, Apalachicola,
St. George Island, Cape San Blas, Port St. Joe and Mexico Beach. There were
daily artist demonstrations, a student art day and numerous social
events. I never ate so many juicy oysters. The 10-day plein air
celebration of Franklin, Gulf and East Bay Counties culminated with
The Grand Patron’s Party at the Historic Cotton Exchange in Apalachicola. This
debut of the artist’s choice paintings was well attended.
The food, the wine, the music, the people and the
paintings were fantastic. I doubt I’ll ever more fun at an art
opening. Everyone,including the promoters,
patrons,hosts and artists were extremely warm and generous.
I was most touched when the Healing Power of Art became evident. In a
culture dominated by TV and entertainment I sometimes wonder what the real value
of art is. Is it a luxury? What would life be like without it? I am also
a deeply, though not overtly, religious person. I believe in miracles and that
God uses a lot of different means to bring healing and comfort to his people.
I tell this story with no specifics out of respect for another’s
privacy:
I began the first morning bicycling in Mexico Beach in search of subject matter.
I had traveled less than a tenth of a mile when I saw a misty pond with the sun
rising behind it’s tree lined banks. I stopped and painted.
Things progressed easily. Not only did the painting work from the stand point
of drawing, values, colors and edges but it had some emotional impact as well.
I thought to myself, “If only each of the 10 days would go this well!”
I wish I could say they did but I had my ups and downs.
I first exhibited the painting during a social at the Gulf County TDC Welcome
Center in Port St. Joe. Near the end of the evening a woman came to me and explained
that she burst into tears when she first saw it. “Awe, it isn’t that bad”,
I quipped. “No, you don’t understand…I grew up on that pond. We lived in
the house next door”, she said. The woman confided that she had stoically cared for her
mother through long illness and had remained stoic through her mother’s passing last November.
She had not grieved the loss until my painting touched her.
She seemed startled by the sudden flood of emotion and fought the urge to buy the piece.
The following evening the painting was exhibited again at The Grand Patron’s Party.
An hour into the evening the proverbial “red dot” went up. “Had someone else purchased it”, I wondered.
I hoped not. I wanted the lady from the previous night to have it.
Soon a gentleman introduced himself to me as the one who made the purchase. I was relieved to
hear that he was indeed “the lady’s” husband. Near the end of the evening I saw her holding the boxed painting
close to her heart. Realizing that the painting was merely a symbol of what she truly
embraced I whispered to myself words from the Song of St. Francis,”…make me a channel of Your Peace.”
And so, I concluded, art is much more than luxury.
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I am fascinated by the Healing Power of Art. There are of course the visual effects. Another place I visited has a page where you place your palm on the picture and allow the colors to attempt to heal you – http://www.cathetel.com/cathetel.htm . It seems though the music scene has decayed and I find the trendy stores playing angry rap talk to be disturbing and unpleasant. I seek the natural art of nature for truly insightful sensations. I especially love old art books that capture moods and ideas and look as if the paintings took a long time to paint after many years of study, rather than the slap dash pretend its Art look of many of todays efforts. Just my thoughts.