Everything changes constantly, art is eternal
Everything changes constantly, art is eternal
Making art in difficult times is necessary: artists make art no matter who is running the world.
Hello friends, last week everything changed, and so much of it stayed the same too. This week I’m choosing to remind myself (and you) that creativity will continue if we continue to create.
Read on for my latest article.
Find me online:
My new ‘Light’ series of paintings on paper is now available! Find it here.
Visit my art website: KrisCahillArt.com.
Fine art prints of my work: Fine Art America shop
My psychic Substack is here.
Thank you for being here, I always appreciate you for showing up.
Love, Kris
Artists make art even in difficult times.
We each change all the time, and the times in which we live change us.
Artists create no matter what’s going on out in the world.
What artists create changes as the world does, and the world changes because artists create. The work artists do to help us see ourselves and the world, and feel our own true emotions, is priceless.
Artists comment on the world, politics, events, social structures, nature, relationships, the planet, evolution, each other, and anything else you can think of or name. Think of it and someone has probably made art about it, often several someones have done so.
This past week, the results of the US elections have thrown many of us, and the world itself, into all kinds of disarray, fears, preparations, as if preparing for a great storm. As the abysmal election results started pouring in, I couldn’t relax my body no matter what I did, until I stepped away from the news and went into my studio for a good healing dose of making art.
What I made didn’t matter, but I did end up making something I really like. Plus it helped me calm down, and made it possible to actually get to sleep at a reasonable hour, though I did wake up several times during that long sad night to check that yes indeed, most people who voted in this country actually thought it was a good idea to put an abusive cruel felon back into the highest seat of power in this country. Sigh.
But, the art must continue.
I keep thinking of the 1980’s Dunkin’ Donuts commercials featuring Fred the Baker, who became known for saying ‘time to make the donuts’. I decided it’s time to make the art, because it’s always time to make the art.
“Only an artist can tell … what it is like for anyone who gets to this planet to survive it,” James Baldwin asserted in ‘The Cross of Redemption’.
Artists throughout time have been both lauded and condemned for their work, some exiled, imprisoned, and even executed. Artists reflect the world and the culture back to itself, and to anyone who cares to see. This often doesn’t please those who would rather we all turn away, or not look. Book banning is never done by the people on the right side of history.
Toni Morrison said this in 2004, after the re-election of George W. Bush:
This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.
I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge — even wisdom. Like art. — Toni Morrison, ‘No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear’ in The Nation
A very short list of artists whose work brought something forward to be seen:
Ai Weiwei, Pussy Riot, Banksy, Kathe Kollwitz, John Heartfield, Joan Baez, The Guerrilla Girls, John Lennon, Abbey Lincoln, Paul Robeson, Diego Rivera, Judy Chicago, Maya Angelou, Kara Walker, Shepard Fairey, the list is endless and covers all of time.
Artists have always made it possible to see another view of life. Whether or not an artist is purposely making ‘political’ art, an artist is changing the world by showing up and making something.
Since artists first made art, artists recorded their lives, emotions, vision, opinions, challenges, dreams, observances, inspirations, anguish, love.
The artist doesn’t have to be well known, it can be you making something you like to make. The act of creating something that comes from within yourself is the healing you bring, even and especially during the most challenging times.
Inspiration for Creating During Challenging Times
‘Mourning Doves Are People, Too’ by Demi Naito
I met Demi this year when she scheduled a reading with me, and then took a class with me. We both shared that we are artists, and we each bought art from each other. I love Demi’s work, she makes comics, and they are wonderful. Visit her at Demi Naito.
Inspiration for creative nonviolent change: ‘How to Use Rice Pudding, Lego Men, and Other Nonviolent Techniques to Galvanize Communities, Overthrow Dictators, or Simply Change the World’ by Srdja Popovic is a fun read. Check it out.
Thank you for reading! I always appreciate that you choose to bring your energy here. Please share with anyone you know who would like this newsletter, and thanks for doing so. Love, Kris