art smarts

Chapter 3. Inspiration

Art can be a powerful therapeutic tool, making us healthier in body, mind and spirit.

In the beginning it was, as much as anything, therapeutic. It was kind of like saying, “Well this is who and what I am, and this is me trying to come to grips with it and trying to come to an understanding of it.” And the way I would look at it was, a female comic makes female jokes, a fat comic makes fat jokes, so how was I any different? If the audience was having trouble laughing with me, then they should be asking themselves why.
gord

It gives me something I can do. I’m your typical Type A personality who gets chronic fatigue; I have to go, go, go, and it’s really hard to do that when you have pain. I started painting again because I was told as part of my treatment to go meditate. The best form of meditation I know is painting. And as a child growing up in not necessarily a great home, to put it mildly, painting was a way for me to escape.
bernadine

If I painted and I never showed my work, that wouldn’t make much sense. Like, if you learn to play piano, you want to give a concert sometime. More people will hear you. It’s connected to my disability because I’m proud. I used to say, for sure nobody would exchange their health with mine. Then, on a beautiful morning when I’m going out with my lunch and my brushes, I think, they’d admire me and wish they could do what I’m doing, instead of going to the office. That’s part of accepting my disability.
roger

Beyond therapy, art can be what keeps us alive.

I started my art-making in 1981 with woodcarving. Five years later I had to turn to oil painting because my health got worse. That was the beginning of my post-polio syndrome. I was experiencing new muscle weakness, fatigue, and very strong pain. I was afraid I’d lose fingers with my dangerous woodcarving tools. And I started to have less balance and began to walk with a cane. That time was so difficult; that’s why I discovered such a great passion for painting. Painting became so important to me that it was maybe even a necessity. It helped me to get through the darkest period of my life. Before I began to paint, I said to myself, “I hope my life will be short.” But once I started to paint, I said, “I hope I live to be 120 years old so I can become a good artist!”

When I was working as a financial analyst, woodcarving was a hobby for me. When I was told I had post-polio syndrome, I knew I couldn’t continue with my career. I had to take care of my health. I wanted to try to enjoy life, save energy for life. It was at that time that I switched to painting. But I thought painting was slow work; maybe it would take six months to do a painting. That’s not me. I have to work fast; spontaneity is important for me. That’s why I like to go outside and quickly capture the magic of landscape and pastoral scenes. It’s stimulating for me. After four or five paintings I said to myself, “Either I quit right now or I start to paint for a future goal or target.” Then things started happening pretty fast for me. If I didn’t have a disability, maybe I would go swimming in the morning, jogging in the afternoon, dancing at night. Now painting is my first and only activity. It’s my passion.
roger

Art gives us a variety of ways to express ourselves.

Because of my speech disability, I don’t always have the opportunity in informal situations like clubs or parties to express myself, show what kind of person I am. I found the stage gave me that outlet for self-expression. My art form is very much affected by my disability; I’ve had to learn to use what I’ve got. And just because I can’t do different voices or speak fast like other comics doesn’t mean I can’t do comedy. It just means that that way of doing comedy won’t work for me, and I have to figure out a way of doing comedy that will work for me. I think that spreads across to all other art forms. That’s what my main advice would be, you know – here’s what you’ve got, figure out what does work for you and go with it. It’s good to know about different forms and to know about different styles, but you don’t always have to be able to conform to those styles in order to be a good artist. I would say that’s very much what any artist does anyway: you find your own voice.
alan

Art can be a vehicle to reach out to a certain group – for example, children.

I like to tell stories, but most importantly I love working with children. So it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment idea that my dance teacher had. She knows that I like working with children and she knows I used to tell stories to them. And from that she suggested story dancing. I’d already taken dance lessons from her, so she knew I was pretty good at that too. Two talents in one and love for children – that became what I have now.
rasika

What else do artists say about inspiration