A Creative Healing

 

The Red Cow by Paul Gauguin

This painting, along with many other beautiful works of art, healed my soul today. This morning I woke up with a feeling that I was wandering with no clear direction. So I bought my usual morning latte at the corner coffee shop and started to change my routine right there. I decided to walk to the beach to enjoy my drink.  I live seven blocks from Venice Beach boardwalk but I rarely cover the distance just for the pure enjoyment of viewing the Pacific Ocean.

As I sat looking at the mountains rise above Malibu and the soft blue water I thought I should visit the museum for no other reason than to let my eyes feast upon some art. So I played hooky and ran off to LACMA. There, on the 2nd Floor of the permanent collection I found the modern painters and opened my soul to them.

I stood in front of The Concert by Georges Braque and marveled for the first time at the method he used to break apart the image and still retain some beautifully rendered areas of texture and modeling. This took my breath away.

 

The Concert by Georges Braque

I wandered through the galleries looking at the Picassos and the Rothkos. It all seemed new to me today and I considered this an incredible gift that after all these years I can still look at these paintings as if it was the first time.

So when I finally came to rest in front of The Red Cow I saw that little creature with a new level of joy. Whatever had been bothering me evaporated and I considered the power of art to heal and inspire. Then I had it - once again - the reason I can't stop making art. The right reason.