‘When I was a child I spoke as a child,
I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put
away childish things.’
So
wrote St Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. For the majority of us, such is
the case with most aspects of our child and adult lives. However, in my case
there was a flaw in the process and it is called ‘art’; or to be more precise,
the ability to draw and paint. Words were never a problem; neither was music;
but as a child I was lost with a pencil or a paint brush. Throughout my adult
life, I have found it difficult to break away from the childish representation
of a tree or house that I learned to draw when I was about three years old. It
may have worked for L S Lowry, but I am not even sure that I can reach his
standard of depiction.
It
was therefore a great honour and an eye-opener to spend twelve days recently in
the company of five of the world’s greatest living artists; to study their
work, listen to them speak about their styles, watch them at work, and to receive
the occasional tuition from them. In no particular order, they were Viktor
Shvaiko, Bill Mack, Michael Godard, Gary Welton and Adam Scott Rote. If you are
not already familiar with their work, I recommend spending some time looking at
their official websites in order to gain a deeper perspective on what I am
writing about. What you will see is that they all have very different and
distinctive styles. Some of them have additionally had very difficult and
troubled pasts (as reflected in the books, ‘Journey
to the West’ by Shvaiko, and ‘Don’t
Drink and Draw’ by Godard).
Watching
them work, they make it all looks so easy. However, all five men are masters of
their art and have spent decades at perfecting their styles. Nonetheless, there
is much to be learned from them, and the greatest lesson I brought away with me
is just how cathartic the process of producing a piece of art can be. It
doesn’t matter whether it is a simple pencil sketch, an abstract colour-filled
vision, or a moulded lump of clay; it is the process of producing the
end-product that is of immense personal value.
Art
Therapy has long been an unsung hero in the world of medicine. Funding for such
treatment is often very limited, and the ability to access formal courses is
frequently restricted to a few places through psychotherapy departments. That
aside, it forms a valuable resource for the treatment of many different types
of disorders, from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, to autism and
other complex communication disorders. Artists may be interested in the website
of the British Association of Art Therapists (www.baat.org); alternatively,
Wikipedia provides an article of general interest on the subject (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_therapy).
For
me, fine art will no doubt prove to be an elusive skill. However, after my time
recently in the company of the aforementioned five men, my eyes have been
opened to the benefits art in general has to offer for even the most juvenile
of artists. As the Swiss painter, Paul Klee (1879- 1940) said ‘Art does not
reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible’. As a doctor, and from a
psychological perspective, I can only concur.
(First
published in the Scunthorpe Telegraph,
Thursday 9th August 2012.)
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