Art and Humor -- The Magical Elixerby Patricia Phillips Because I know from experience how effectively humor can distance one from their difficult circumstances, if only temporarily, it is frequently a part of my work. Whether it is a jade and amethyst fish swimming valiantly upstream around the hem of someone’s silk caftan or a "Kitty With a Fish in Its Belly" copper pin, on someone’s jacket lapel, attracting laughter and interest; it has accomplished the same thing: a tiny moment out of time where life is a bit more colorful, joyful, and hopeful. Always as I work, I receive this as a gift from the One Who has created all things (especially humor!) and I offer it in turn to all of you. I hope the following story will illustrate to you one way in which I have seen the experience of art bring joy to a difficult circumstance and make it easier to endure. When I was asked to do hand-painted fabric treatments for a small apartment, I was presented with a particular challenge. My elderly client was moving into a space which was literally half the size of her previous home. Among her many possessions was a large stuffed panda collection. She had barely found room for it in her current home. She was ready to let go of her precious pandas, but I knew that collecting them, receiving them from friends over the years, and enjoying them brought her more pleasure than even she was willing to admit. Letting go of them would represent to her, one more loss in a series of losses that she had recently experienced, and so it seemed important to me to find a way for her to keep them. What to do? Her tiny bedroom had barely enough room for bed, dresser and small table. And then the answer came: Bed comforter, pillows, bed skirt painted with a bamboo tree motif. When the bed was made, the whole sweet and happy panda family could live, during the day, on the bed in great panda profusion, as though they were resting atop the bamboo forest painted on the comforter. Everything coordinated to the panda theme - the window treatments and bedskirt picked up the colors in the bamboo tree leaves. Even the end table was decoupaged with drawings of favorite panda heads. A framed poster, souvenir of a visit to a panda exhibit, decorated the wall. When the woman came into the room for the first time after it was decorated and realized that we had found a way for her to keep her pandas, the joy on her face was of more value to me than thousands of dollars. The feeling that we both experienced at that moment - hers in the surprise of the room, and mine in just sharing it with her, proved again to me that a created piece can have spiritual impact even if it is only a humble bedspread! Paint, to me, is a magic elixir, transforming the most ordinary item into a treasure. And so, in the rest of the lady’s tiny apartment, we continued to use art on its most functional level to bring an unexpected pleasure, wherever she turned. Tropical rainforest themes on drapes festooned her living room windows. Floor lamps were painted to accent treasured pieces of furniture. Fabric was painted to upholster a favorite, but worn rocking chair. Painted shower curtain and window curtain in the bathroom danced and swam with a school of black and white fish, which flowed naturally into the black and white panda bedroom. Kitchen cabinets were ‘crackle-painted’ in cream and white - texture on texture, to bring something special to an ordinary and tiny room, and minimize a little the difficulty of having to live in a smaller space. One of life’s most difficult transitions, aging and the painful life adjustments that accompany it, was made a little easier to bear, with just an application of paint. I found wisdom on many levels from this commission experience. I was challenged to think more about preparing for the progression of my own life journey. From this woman I learned something more of what it means to accept with grace and humor, any circumstance thrust upon me by life. Her choice could have been to respond with bitterness and depression to this inevitable change, but instead, she chose to allow something beautiful and creative to come to life in the midst of her difficult circumstance. I saw that in the midst of a perceived misfortune, something wonderful will always be created, if we allow it. I realized again on a new level that we always have to draw upon Something greater than ourselves to make this adjustment. Just as art transforms us as we allow it to flow through us, so we are changed as we allow ourselves to the see the very creative act of art in a life lived with gratitude, creativity and acceptance. -- Patricia Phillips - Patricia Phillips Original Art Designs ___________________________________ Artist’s Statement: When working on any piece, whether grand or whimsical, my desire is that the person happening upon it will experience the same joy I had in creating it. Many of my pieces employ the bold, vivid colors which I so admire in the work of my favorite artist, Henri Matisse. When I look at his work, I am lifted out of my present circumstances into a place where it is possible for anything to happen. posted December, 1999. ___________________________________ Contact Information: website: Patricia Phillips
email:
p.a.phillips@worldnet.att.net
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