Why do I make art? This is a question I have grappled with over the years. There must be a purpose, a reason, a justification for me to put so much time, energy, and money towards it. Turns out I don’t need a purpose. I don’t need a reason. I don’t need to justify. I just need to art.
Arting is how I process feelings. I have spent too many years burying certain emotions, ignoring some emotions, downplaying emotions. Art lets me honor all of me. As I look at a journal page, a painting, a collage, any of it, I am taken back to the feelings that fueled the art. The yucky emotions are more processed once I have arted them which gives me distance and perspective. That allows me to see the lessons in the emotions and grow as a person.
Then there are my anchor pieces, like the one above, that just bring me pure happiness every time I look at them. This is just my daughter’s homework stitched with envelopes and any thing else I found. She gets a kick out of knowing why I get excited to get her old homework papers. The color is pan pastels and stencils. Just a day when I played with no rules, no restrictions. Amazing that it is almost a year ago that I did this, but the good feelings are as strong as if I did it today. Its significance to me is how it makes me feel when I see it.
How about you? Why do you art?
Linking up with Creative Every Day and Inspire Me Monday!
