Art and the Placebo Effect

This week's blog was written by Steve Yarosh who creates original sculpted inlay art.

​Art is an Action
 
I remember the first time my parents took me to an art gallery.  I was 11-years old and I noticed right away that my mom and dad behaved differently there – more formal and polite.  Not like they were at home.  This was more like church -- stuffy and fake.
 
And there was a lady in a long dress who worked there.  She wore her hair high on her head and smelled like perfume.  But she was seemed a little mean as she walked around pointing at pictures and talking -- as my parents nodded politely and followed.  I looked at one of the pictures she pointed to.  It felt grey and sad – and I turned away and looked out the window.  A bus rumbled by.  I wondered where it was going . . . .
 
When we got home I changed back into my jeans and went outside to play.  None of my friends were home.  There was nothing to do, and I kept thinking of that lady in the gallery and how weird my parents acted there.  I went back inside – to my room.  I laid on my bed and wondered what I should do.

​On my desk there were some markers.  Magic markers my mom bought me a long time ago.  She had put them in an old coffee cup next to a stack of scratch paper, but I never used them.  They seemed like they were for younger kids. 
 
I sat down at the desk and dumped the markers out of the mug.  They rolled across the surface of my desk with a nice rattling sound.
 
I grabbed a sheet of paper and started to draw.

​I made a flower – a big happy flower with lots of colors for the petals.  And I drew curling clouds with happy faces.  I laughed a little at what I’d done.  It was fun.  It made me feel good!
 
So I did it again.  Only this time with trees and birds, a big mountain and the sun shining over all of it.  I redrew my world . . . and I was okay again.

That’s how I discovered the secret power of art.  All along I thought it was about critics and connoisseurs – but I was wrong!  It isn’t about them at all.  It’s about you . . . and the act of creating.  It’s about tapping into hidden places and re-creating yourself.  You make your own spirit . . . and art is a way to do this.
 
Now selling . . .  well that’s another question entirely.