Sunday, September 23, 2007

Art and Spirituality

I'm not a religious person. Even though I was raised in a household of Episcopalians and Catholics, I've got my own ideas about universal beginnings. I love the rituals of Catholicism but that's it. My beliefs lean towards the spiritual side as popularized with the book and movie "The Secret". Yes, I believe in an intelligence, a power, a force, the Big Kahuna if you will. If this intelligence created me, then I'm part and parcel of all there is. We have been gifted with the power to do as we choose. This means that we can create our own life experiences for better or worse. No doubt you've heard this over and over. What does this mean to me as an artist? Simply that God (or the Big Kahuna, Spirit, Universal Power, etc.) creates through me as me. So there. Form your own conclusions. However, this realization drives and guides my creativity day in and day out. Just thought you'd like to know...

On the way home from Lexington, we stopped in Berea at the Kentucky Artisan Center where I purchased a little hand-crafted necklace that really appealed to me. It has a tiny medallion containing a hand and hearts. As I read the paper tag that accompanied it, it stated that the the icon was from a Shaker symbol which meant: "Hand to Work, Heart to God".

shaker medallion

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