How Art Can Empower You to Connect
Empower is a strong word. By definition, it means “the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one’s life and claiming one’s rights.” So what does it have to do with art?
In February, Karen Brooks, of Wear With Passion, featured myself and four other women in her Forever Fierce: Voices of the Midlife Revolution blog post. The post was about what it means to be fierce at midlife. I never really thought of myself as fierce, but when I learned more about the Forever Fierce movement and its intention to empower women in midlife and beyond, it struck a chord with me. Maybe I was fierce after all.
My artwork is a continuation of my personal growth. It has given me more confidence and more trust in myself to take more leaps and be bold. Maybe it was in me all along and suppressed, but I now have an edgy aspect in my art that is flowing out onto canvases in expressive movements when I dance and listen to music.
It also got me thinking about connections in both my life and my art. The more I thought about it, the more I kept thinking about my audience and the connection my art makes to them. After all, on a different level, art makes us connect.
Art can make you feel – energy, emotions. It can challenge you to think of other people’s perspectives, stir up your imagination, help you reflect in deeper ways, it can stir up wonder in our minds, think about past memories, people. Connection.
Let’s face it, art is magical. It is certainly magical to me while I create it. And those who buy my art find there to be some sort of magical connection between the art they buy and their personal lives. Art has the power to take you out of your never-ending circle of daily thoughts and routines. It can also awaken and connect you to the reality of your better self.
The goal with my art is to engage and inspire viewers to find a little more connection in their life. To connect through the captivating flow of movements, the use of colour and the depth of layers. My art communicates a meaningful authenticity and a passion to encourage emotions and conversations. Emotions to help people be bold and fearless, find inner strength, believe in themselves, and live out loud!