Art as a Refuge

Have you ever used your art as a refuge?    We often times create art, view art or just think about art in happy times, when we have good energy flowing and such.  But what about during “bad times”?   Can art be used as an escape from unpleasant times?   I think it can.

When I use the word “art”, I’m speaking about more than just photography.  Music is my second passion and is a huge part of my life, both listening to and playing.  Plus there is painting, sketching, sculpture and on and on.  Whatever we do creatively that we can consider “art” by our own definition, that’s what I’m talking about here.

It’s been a crazy couple of years so far and the rollercoaster is not over for me or my family yet.  2020 started off great for me with workshops in Iceland, Norway and then Arizona with many more planned throughout the year.  Then, the world locked down and there was no more travel and no more workshops.  So, we all turned to our computers to create content, revisit our back catalogs, learn something new about photography or art, or just kill some time wandering to the end of the internet and back.   For many of us, our art was a refuge against the uncertainty and stress of those days.  A way to escape to happier times, fun memories and most of all, witnessing the beauty of nature and being able to capture that and relive that experience.

Fast forward to 2021 and the world starts to open up.  People are traveling again, restaurants reopening, and some feeling of normalcy is returning.  My workshop business started up again and I had some great experiences in Olympic NP, Palouse and the Oregon Coast.  Some of the uncertainty was starting to dissipate, I could start to see and forecast somewhat in to the future and things were looking good.  Family life was starting to return to a semblance of normal, even though we were still working from home.  Everything was really looking positive and everyone was very excited for a great summer ahead.  The positive outlook and energy injected in to my art and business and I was creating some inspired work and proud of what I was doing and the lasting foundations I was building.

Now, things are back to being tough and I am needing to use my art as a refuge against a new “twist” in our lives that is affecting me personally and professionally.  When I was out at the Oregon Coast for my workshop, on the night right before it kicked off, I get a call from my wife right as I’m going to bed.  The first words from her mouth were “don’t worry, everyone is alright”….now these are never words you want to hear because you know the next things coming aren’t going to be good.  And yes, the next things were not too good.

We live in an older established neighborhood with many old, beautiful trees, mainly oaks and maples.  I love these trees! (except for raking leaves in the Fall).   We have one tree in our backyard that I have called “home tree” after the tree in the movie Avatar.  It was the biggest oak tree I’ve ever seen up close and it was so beautiful and amazing.  Its span covered our entire house and backyard, providing shade and good energy.  We always kept up with our tree maintenance on this because one of our fears was that a large limb would come down and crush the house or injure someone.  In fact, all of the trees we have are healthy and well maintained both for safety and that I love trees and can’t stand to see them get sick.

Back to the phone call….the next words that my wife said was that a large limb fell off of the tree and landed on back of the house.  Thankfully the family had a late dinner and the boys were not in their rooms, otherwise they would have been shredded by glass and debris as the limb punched through ceilings and windows.  I am so thankful nobody was hurt and it happened the way it happened.  I like to think a little bit of divine intervention was at work this night.  I had to finish out the workshop and then rushed home to be with my family and help deal with the reality of this.  I say this jokingly but thank goodness we had a good disaster repair company on speed dial who have helped us secure the house and begin the reconstruction process.  (jokingly because 3 years ago, my previous home burned down as it was being renovated for sale and we had to rebuild that one with a disaster repair company, who did good work and we kept their info)

When I say a “large limb”, it was estimated that this limb weighed over 10,000 pounds and fell from a height of 30-40′.  Can you imagine the force of the impact?!?!?!?!  It crushed a good part of the back of house structure, probably moved the foundation, caused an addition to separate from the main house, etc.   We are still assessing the damage and won’t know for a few weeks. We had to completely take down the “home tree” as it was too far damaged to live and when we cut the final piece (and had a crane lift it over the house to the street), they counted the rings and it was 117 years old!

So, back to my premise of art as a refuge.  We have been displaced from our home, living in 2 different motels until we finally found a 3 bedroom apartment to call “home” for the next few months.  As you can imagine, this is a hugely stressful time; dealing with insurance, contractors, relocation and all that fun stuff, all while trying to move out all the contents of the house except for the things we’ll need for the next months.  A daunting task!!!   My office is emptied and all my hard drives and music and accessories are sitting in plastic tubs in the apartment living room until I can get a desk and get it set up.  Right now I’m “working” from the dining room table!

Needless to say, it seems that art would be a superfluous thing and not be high on my priority list.  But quite the opposite is occurring.  I am making a point to touch base with my art and images every day, even for just a brief time, to stay connected to it and draw some positive energy/feelings from the experience of capturing it, processing it, and the whole creative process.   I am using my art as a refuge against the current chaos and calamity that we are dealing with.  It allows me a brief respite from the many to-do lists, the stress and worry, etc and just escape for even some brief minutes in to the landscape and travel back to those great moments. Its a little bit of “self care” that I can practice for myself to help during stressful times.

Plus, music has been a constant presence in my life over the past few months.  I’ve been teaching myself to play an electronic keyboard to create some of my own music.  Plus, my headphones are getting worn out by being constantly filled with jazz, folk, rock and other assorted musical menus to help buoy my mood, calm the nervousness, give energy, or just soothe the rough edges of the day.

I would encourage you to think about your art and the good energy that you can get from it and possibly use this yourself as a little bit of “self care”.  Art is in general, “pleasing” and “enjoyable” and we can use these connotations to help ourselves when things might get a bit tough.  That old adage of “you are what you eat” is also true for the brain!  We are, and think about, and feel, a lot of what we ingest mentally.  So I use my art to cleanse my mental palate, re-charge my batteries and center myself to face another day in the best way possible.

So yes, art as a refuge, is a real concept in my opinion and one that can be quite handy to use in times of need.

Hoh River