Therapeutic Art
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| Charcoal on 8.5 x 11 paper - Mary Catherine D'Agostino |
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| Charcoal on 8.5 x 11 paper - Mary Catherine D'Agostino |
I’ve
spoken about what art is and where we see art and now I’d like to talk about
how art has had an effect on me personally.
Everyone knows artists to be these deep emotional kinds of people. I think the reason why people see artists
this way is because every artist in some way uses their art as an outlet. As Twyla Tharp said “Art is the only way to
run away without leaving home.”
As I
mentioned in my biography my passion for art became much stronger when I
entered my teenage years due to unfortunate events that occurred in my life. It was just about a month after I turned 14
and I found out that my father had stage four throat cancer. You could only imagine the horrified shock I
went into upon hearing this tragic news.
My dad chased monsters from the dark for me, he even checked underneath
my bed for me, he could lift me with one arm way up over his head, he pulled splinters from his hand
and never even flinched. To hear that my
superman was about to fight the biggest battle of his life was scary but I was
going to be by his side through it all.
Once this journey began things got harder and scarier along the way and
to be honest the only way I knew how to deal with it was through my art.
Yes I
could have cried non-stop or became bitter and angry at the fact that this
happened and ask the big question of why? Why did this have to happen? Why him? Though the way I looked at it was, doing any of that wouldn’t have changed
anything. I needed to be strong for my
dad just like he had always been for me, so when I did get emotional and I
needed to let out my pain or anger I started to draw. I began to do this on a daily basis. I would close my eyes take a deep breath and
let my hand connect with the paper.
Drawing became therapeutic for me because it enabled me to express my
feelings in ways that words could not.
With a
new found determination to not only help myself cope with hard times but also
the desire to help others carry on through hard times I developed a new
dream. I dreamed to one day create a charitable
organization that would incorporate art as a form of therapy with a particular focus on children and
teenagers. For me art has served as a way of getting past challenges and
has helped me see the world with a more brighter, colourful outlook, despite
the hardships others and I have encountered. Sometimes it’s the struggles
you encounter that enable your life to transform into something beyond
normalcy, into what can only be described as wondrous.
your sketches literally look like black and white versions of the photos, amazing! <3
ReplyDeleteCross-stitching is extremely calming to me. That's really the only creative outlet I can think of that helps me, everything else stresses me out ha ha. My art education has done the opposite and kind of turned me off drawing for fun, which is unfortunate. Your passion for drawing is so inspiring though!
ReplyDeleteI completely understand what you mean, because when I was debating whether or not I wanted to go to school for art in order to perhaps start a career with my artistic abilities I found myself becoming more and more frustrated with my work rather than being able to enjoy it. This was a major factor for why I decided to go another way career wise and leave my art as something for myself. Perhaps it is a bit selfish to keep my art for just me but as I mentioned in my post art has become personal and something very close to me and I enjoy it most when done because I "want" to rather than because I "need" to.
DeleteThat's definitely not selfish! Art, or even anything you love, should be done for you alone. If others enjoy it too, that's an added benefit. I've discovered lately that the things I love the most should probably be left as hobbies, because once I am demanded to do something and lose control of those boundaries, I start to resent it.
DeleteArt for me has come in the form of designing buildings both in concept (architectural features) and also in the structure behind it. Thinking back to when I was in school, I was always most calm and relaxed when I was designing something or coming up with new creative designs. There is something satisfying for me to look at a design I have done and have spent a lot of time on and know that this one design could potentially one day be built. Its not only calming when in the designing stage, but also when I can take what I have designed and thought about and then actually put the design into reality. For example I am currently doing a kitchen remodel and every day I work on it and more things get done, its satisfying to see my design coming together.
ReplyDeleteI love that you brought up designing things such as buildings because it also ties into a previous post of mine discussing how art is all around us because I feel like sometimes people miss how beautiful some of the structures we see on a day to day basis that are right in front of us. I can see how that would be exciting to not only be able to draw up the idea of a structure but then watch it build into a marvellous creation right before your eyes. You must be proud of your kitchen remodelling project I hope it all comes together nicely for you.
DeleteDoes photography count as art? It is pretty much the only thing that comes to mind when I think of any sort of artistic side of me. It is so relaxing to just go and take pictures whether of family, or just nature. It really gives me a feeling of accomplishment when I catch a picture of anything that may not be common or may be passes over by anyone else. I even have a whole album of pictures i have taken. I get people saying things like "it shouldn't look like that" or "its over exposed" I just think, I really don't care because I love it! That's what it is for me! A moment to just freeze time and enjoy whats in front of me! Not think of any problems that I am facing "in the real world" No one to tell me I'm wrong. I love it!
ReplyDeletePhotography definitely counts and I can really relate to what you mean when you say that you don't care if others say things are wrong with your photos because it's something just for you. I'm the same way when it comes to my art, as i mentioned in my post I decided to keep my art as something just for myself rather than as a career choice because it doesn't have to be perfect or a certain way, just the way I feel or see things and it's perfectly fine that way.
DeleteI think my form of art is song writing. I often find myself in situations where my emotions get the best of me, and I find that writing things out calms me down. When I feel angry or overwhelmed, it does the trick. My emotions help me find the right words to put on paper. This kind of writing, the type that comes from raw feeling, helps me vent and think things through rationally. Music gets me through those tough days where all I want to do is cry. Something about strumming a guitar as loud as I can with lyrics that mean so much to me is truly therapeutic. I rarely share my songs, partially because they mean so much to me and partially because I'd be embarrassed. It's my own kind of thing, I guess
ReplyDeleteThat's beautiful and just as my drawing has become therapeutic for myself your songs are the same for you. Reading through all of these comments I see how so many different people are able to express themselves through all of these unique ways and I think that's fantastic because life is not always easy but this just goes to show that everyone has their way of dealing with it.
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