I believe that art is healing and not only for the person creating the piece.
My art has always reflected my honest truth. As long as I can remember, I’ve always identified as an artist. It’s always been interwoven with how my mind works and how my spirit operates.
When I was struggling to stay alive as a teenager and young adult, my art reflected that darkness and my inner turmoil. I can’t lie to myself when I draw or paint or collage. It’s all there for me or anyone who looks at my art to see.
My healing process lines up not only with my internal thoughts and experience but also with what I’m creating, what I’m saying, what I’m sharing, how I’m advocating for myself as an artist, how I’m recognizing what I have to offer.
I believe that art is healing and not only for the person creating the piece. I know deep in my soul that creating and sharing my art is a part of my purpose. When you look at my paintings, you can find my story, yes. Yet how we look at art is also a reflection of the viewer, of you.
That’s why I share my story and reflection questions. I hope my stories behind the artworks provide validation for anyone who relates. And the reflection questions are a way to guide you to find what the art and its themes mean to you.
How can you find what you’re looking for emotionally, spiritually, or for your unique path in life by looking at art? My reflection questions (or just asking yourself questions in general) can help you find that. It’s you digging within yourself and the artwork simultaneously, each fueling and facilitating each other.
Last year, I painted “Uneasy Street" (above) for fellow artist Gary Passanise. It was around the same time I released my first album UNEASY STREET. (I release my music under Alice Celeste, the name I gave myself for my musician alter ego.)
- What does the phrase “uneasy street” bring to mind?
- What do you see in this painting?
- What's your uneasy street? A hard path you've traveled anyway? An uneasy street you still want to take?
These are my reflection questions for today. As an additional option for reflection, you can listen to my album UNEASY STREET too.
- What do you hear?
- What uneasy streets, what hard paths, roads less traveled, do you hear being expressed?
Always feel free to respond to my reflection questions through email, or commenting below! Or, simply reflect in your head or by writing in a journal or a sheet of paper.
Thanks for being a part of my art community — let’s keep digging together! There’s treasure underneath :)