Last spring I asked my sisters if there were any topics they’d like to see on the journal that would maybe get my brain churning while staying home with covid. One of them was curious how art and daily life joined together for me. Slightly clueless I responded, “great question… I don’t know!”
I’ve continued to munch on this question. Is art & life like oil and vinegar? Or the harmonious marriage of coffee & cream?
There is an ebb and flow to the occasionally disjointed, at times effortless, relationship between art & life - sometimes it feels as if life and art are clamoring stones on a pebble shore and other times the longing for beauty joins freely with daily life. This is one of the (many) internal battles that every artist faces… or at least speaking for myself. It is easy to compartmentalize aspects of daily life in order to attain structure and peace; “here is my art world, paints and brushes, in which I’ll step… and then I’ll depart and make dinner or clean the bathroom”. Can art truly influence all other aspects of day-to-day life? Or is that something that the free-spirited artists just like to say to sound poetic?
Yes, I believe it can… but maybe not always as we expect. Art and life require an occasional vigorous shaking, like your favorite balsamic and olive oil salad dressing. It won’t always feel this way, but we shouldn’t be surprised when faced with moments of friction between the two. Art will not infuse life with beauty without hardworking & intentional hands. Although it sounds slightly uninspiring, I find what my art professor would say still quite appropriate - “just do it”. This would be his response to our hesitancy. As I think about the years spanning from college studio classes to today, I have to honestly confront the fact that I still struggle with this same hesitancy, waiting for inspiration to strike, for art & life to join together without effort.
The act of joining art and daily life together teaches me something. Is not all of
life
like this?
The act of joining art and life together teaches me something. Is not all of life like this? We often expect the hallmark story where the hardest challenge is planning the Christmas festival with prince charming (hah!), but sometimes our stories reveal jagged edges of our character, chronic hesitancy, and sunken hopes. This is life. And yet! Through the misfit pieces of art, life, and whatever you find for your hands to do, something can grow. And it can be called beautiful. Let us put in the work as we meld day-to-day life with our gifts & God given aspirations… an act of beginning again and again.
P.S. don’t forget to add salt and lemon juice to your vinaigrette.
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…” - Ecclesiastes 9:10
Stay in touch,
Joanna