GALLERY

She grew up in the Midwest, married and raised her children in the seasons. A teacher of the Arts, she has both a learned and soulful appreciation of Art. On weekends she would stroll local art shows not to buy, rather like so many, to immerse in creativity and enjoy a summers day. Spectacularly encouraging in word or smile she was someone I always looked forward to seeing. And then it happened. The last show of the season she made her purchase ...
“I love the Midwest but winters are so hard for me. I’ve studied your work and chosen colorful scenes from your garden to help me through it.”
And then she bought a winter scene; one of my pillows, “The Set”.

Why! I asked.
She smiled like someone about to share a secret.
Her husband, a psychologist, told her about research being done on Aesthetic Processing and Healing. A sort of Art Therapy. Where you study something in gaze and thought, processing your feelings, with the intention of discovering its beauty. I thought; sounds like a meditation of consideration. Instead of dreading and then living out of the dread of the winter season, she was going to engage her imagination in this exercise. The soft pillow certainly a tactile aid, but to alter feelings ...
She asked me to tell her about the image, my view was part of her process. Well I loved the thought of this and was very interested to hear her results. During The Winter she wrote the exercise was broadening her perspective. As a literature teacher her imagination was trained to teach symbolism and net out meaning. In one of our back and forths she expressed a new found peace in the stillness of winter. Such a beautiful exercise. A reminder of the possibility of Art and the journey it offers.