It’s often said that art heals—that it allows an artist to work through the stresses and challenges of life, turning fear and anxiety into inspiration and creativity.
In collaboration with the Find the Common Thread Foundation and PJ month for autoimmune disease awareness, the Jasper Artists Guild has curated an exhibit to demonstrate the healing power of art.
The show opens March 18 at the Hangout Gallery in the Clocktower Mall and will showcase new works by a number of JAG artists.
“Members can exhibit a wide variety of works, anything that brings joy or comfort while painting, which for me is always,” wrote artist Claude Boocock, in an email. “The creative process, though it is usually very challenging, is quite meditative.”
Other JAG artists echoed that sentiment.
Painter Diana Ward said ever since art school, where she completed a degree in Creative Embroidery and Textiles, she’s turned to her craft for comfort.
“When I was at college—and it was very stressful in the 60s in London—I used to always pick up a piece of paper and start to design,” she said. “By doing that, I’d become so involved with the image I was creating that the thing I was stressed about would disappear.
“I think it was more than just a distraction, it was something that came from within.”
Ward said still today—more than a few decades after art school—she continues to turn to her art when life gets tough.
“If my mind starts to get full—a little too busy—I can turn to my art to make things calmer.”
Jessy Dion, another of JAG’s artists, said for him, art is a form of escape.
“It’s my way to get away,” he said. “I think that’s why I’m drawn to fantasy and science fiction—I get as far away from reality as possible.”
He said drawing is particularly effective.
“When I’m drawing I just disconnect from whatever is happening around me and even inside me.”
Dion likened drawing to yoga, but he said, rather than stretching his body and following the instruction of a yoga teacher, he zones into his drawing and his breathing deepens and slows, bringing him to a meditative state.
For the Healing Nature of Art Exhibit, Dion will be showing a sketch he calls “Mother Earth.”
The drawing depicts a young woman connected to nature. She’s clothed in leaves and wears a long braid of sweetgrass; her left arm turns into an aspen tree holding a nest and her right arm rushes with water, creating habitat for jumping salmon.
“To me that piece really represents the title of the show really well,” said Dion of the drawing.
For her part, Ward has created a new piece titled “Feeling the Support.”
Describing the 12x12 canvas, she said at its centre is a large design and surrounding it are smaller ones that provide the centre with support.
The exhibit opening is March 18, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is encouraged to wear their wildest pyjamas in support of autoimmune disease awareness. The person with the best PJs will win a JAG gift certificate.
To learn more about autoimmune diseases, which affect one in five people, and Jasper’s effort to find a common thread linking the 150 AI diseases, visit www.findthecommonthread.com.
If you can’t make it to gala opening, the exhibit will remain on the walls of the Hangout Gallery until March 31.
Nicole Veerman
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