Art and Legacy- what we share with others

I have been thinking about legacy lately and what we leave to our children or the people in our lives. We create legacy on a daily basis. In fact our life is our legacy. Art can be a way we can share a piece of who we are and what is important to us.  It holds an energy or charge to it that when gifted to another encompasses the love or thought that we have for someone else.  When we introduce someone to the arts it is like gifting them with the potential for their creativity to grow and thrive. I cannot think of a greater gift.

When I think of who supported my artistic path I think of my grandmother, an artist in her own right even though she probably wouldn’t  have considered herself one. She was a piano teacher who taught the neighborhood children and later in life she dabbled in oil painting. It was not the art she created that made her an artist but the beauty she found in the world and grace that she bestowed on to others.

To teach is to show, a showing is a revelation of more than we see with our eyes. It is what lies just beneath the surface. Art can do this and so can a mentor. The way we speak to someone, the glance of encouragement, or just a simple complement.  Can be all that someone needs to be comfortable in expressing oneself. Expressing oneself in the arts can be where our true nature shines.

So, tonight when my daughter asked me to hold her hand as she fell asleep I thought of my role now as her guide. To share with her the beauty that was once shown to me and how to express that to others. She may be a painter, or a writer, but most importantly a really good person that will one day continue a legacy of expressing her true self.

Awakening Our Spirit Through Art

“We write to taste life twice. we paint and dance and sing and compose and do all art to taste life twice.”Anais Nin.

I am continually amazed by the power of awareness in my life. Art, has shown me how to become more aware at life and take it in with all my senses. Recently, I was buying time in the parking lot of our local grocery store and was struck by the beauty in the flowers. They just glowed with life and the hibiscus were the largest I have ever seen. I was showing my children and walking through the garden when a woman came up to me and said that it if it wasn’t for my attention to the flowers she would not have taken notice and would have missed the beauty completely. In her thanks, I reflected on my own awareness of life and the gems that maybe missed when not paying attention.

Art can reveal more than we can see from the lens of everyday vision. How often do we see life as a series of monotonous events? What if we could see the sacredness of the routine in our life? This is the role of the artist. The artist, must first see clearly herself only to reveal what glistens and illuminates all things through art. This is true even with our relationships with other people. When we connect and see one another for who we truly are. Or, really listen and hear what someone is saying we are connecting with what lies beneath the surface. This is one of the greatest gifts we can give each other. It is also an art form in itself, to slow down and look at something with depth and sincerity. 

In the words of Georgia O’Keeffe, “When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for a moment. I want to give that world to someone else.” To take in all of life whether it be through art or through a heightened sense of perception is what makes life richer and full of meaning.  

Alisha K. Duckett, Artist, Owner Healing Art Images