I try to do something creative every day. Today it was practicing my guitar, and even Whiskey Kitty seems to be taking a liking to my music!
One thing I've noticed over the years is that art not only expresses my emotions but also monitors them. When I'm sad, everything seems a little more blue. When I'm happy, my work often becomes brighter and more playful. And when I'm angry, art can become a tremendous outlet for releasing those feelings.
Art, music, poetry, and writing all have their own ways of helping me deal with difficult emotions. Sometimes the creative process itself is more important than the finished product.
I remember a friend once telling me, "I saw your exhibit, and everyone was raving about it, but I just don't understand it."
I asked him, "Have you ever just wanted to beat up a canvas?"
Suddenly, he understood.
Artists like Jackson Pollock and Willem DeKooning were masters of physical expression in painting. Their movements, gestures, and application of paint were so energetic that creating art could almost become a form of exercise. I sometimes use this approach myself as a form of anger management. During these paintings, I tend to favor warm, aggressive colors such as red, orange, and yellow. Rather than acting out my anger toward someone else, I can release it onto the canvas.
One of my earliest pastel drawings was of a dandelion, divided into four large pieces of newsprint. I experimented with different color schemes for each background. Over time, I began noticing something interesting. The colors I preferred depended largely on my emotional state at the time. A combination that appealed to me one day might not appeal to me the next.
Music works much the same way. Sometimes I want to play fast and loud, while other times I prefer something soft, slow, and serious. Poetry and writing allow me to express those same feelings more precisely through language, especially stream of conscious writing. Each art form provides a different emotional vocabulary.
What fascinates me most is that art doesn't necessarily have to be beautiful, realistic, or even understandable to someone else to have value. Sometimes its greatest purpose is simply to help the artist understand what is happening inside.
I believe creativity can be both a mirror of our emotions and a means of changing them. We don't always have control over how we feel, but we can choose what to do with those feelings. For me, creating something is often the healthiest and most satisfying response.
And today? I practiced my guitar, enjoyed myself, and apparently entertained Whiskey Kitty in the process.
Maybe she doesn't understand my music any more than my friend understood my paintings. But she seemed to enjoy it, and so did I.
Sometimes that's all the artistic success I need.
by Dan and Bonkers
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