Grace P.
Art is for Everyone
I always have thought art is for everyone. The elderly. Children. Adults. Art is super beneficial for everybody. Most importantly art is for people of all abilities.
In high school I had an art teacher who specialized in making art on a computer via photoshop. She was legally blind, meaning she could see a little bit, but was mostly blind. She was the best art teacher I had while in high school. We had the computer set up to have black background and white words and pictures so she could see the pictures.
And here at Creative Clay, we truly believe art is for everyone. We all have different abilities. Some of us have autism. Some with physical differences. Some with Down Syndrome, yet we all come together to make art. We all need different types of assistance, but we all manage. We all encourage each other, but most of all we come together and love art.
I feel that art is therapeutic in a way and that all could benefit from it. When I take the brush to the canvas, thread the needle of the sewing machine, even gliding the Sharpie marker over the paper; I feel a good feeling. I cannot put a name to the feeling. A mix of calm, joy, love even. I’ve talked to the other member artists here at Creative Clay and they whole-heartedly agree with me.
I remember as I taught my father to sew, his discovery of a new side of himself. He had never done much art in his whole life, but he said he had a good feeling that he could not describe. After further discussion, he said he got the same feeling I described earlier. He was never interested in art but once he kept on sewing, he grew increasingly fascinated with the fabrics, piecing them together into shirts for himself to wear, and he grew increasingly satisfied with the results.
And my mother. One day she decided she wanted to do art. She became interested in pottery for a while, making beautiful pots from clay. Once she decided that the clay was not her thing, she began making beautiful watercolor flowers. She looks relaxed when she paints, serenity in her eyes.
So, I encourage everybody, no matter who you are, make time for art. Please. Even just an hour a week. Trust me. You’ll thank me later.
Grace P. began attending Creative Clay’s Community Arts Program first virtually in August of 2021, then in person in October of 2021. She’s been in many exhibits and has had much success selling her work. Grace was recently featured in WUSF’s Arts Axis Florida podcast video called “Happy Medium” with Malaika Hollist. She showed her painting “The Breakfast Train” and talked about what inspires her and her process as an artist. Shortly after the release of the podcast, she sold her painting.
