Be Inspired: The Art of Meditation to Develop Your Craft

Be Inspired: The Art of Meditation to Develop Your Craft

Meditation can be many things to many people. It can be a way to find quiet and a time for the self. It can be a way to deal with stressors throughout the day and a path towards health. Regardless of the goal in mind, the process is similar for many: practice, practice, practice. But what happens when you practice. What are some of the things people encounter and how does that help people who want to be a better creator as opposed to creating more?

The first ingredient to a successful meditation practice is the dedication everyday to the practice. Next would be to have perseverance, because you will not always want to take the time to be quiet; whether mentally, physically, or spiritually. Being consistent with your meditation is key to reaching your objective. Also it helps to see your choice to meditate as a path or road that leads to your goal as well as an adventure to learn many new things. You will discover aspects of yourself that you previously could not see because you were too preoccupied with too many other things that you did not have time to see.

When you are quiet and still, you will begin to notice things that you may not have been aware of before, like your tone and the depth of your breath. You can notice if your inhale is only lifting your upper ribs or if you feel it in the lower ribs, too. You can notice if your breathing pattern carries any feelings with it; if your is shallow, will it cause more anxious thoughts and if it is deep, will your thoughts be more reassuring and calm. These are definite things to notice and reflect upon without forcing yourself to do so.

You will eventually be able to follow your breath more and more as well as get less and less involved in your thoughts and long-drawn out stories going on in your mind. When you stop yourself from getting carried away by your thoughts and feelings, you will eventually notice that you feel calmer and more in control even when it feels frustrating. Eventually you will notice that you are progressing into a calmer state, a more serene sense of self, and therefore a more productive life.

Being open to noticing the unique aspects of your breath can bring big rewards to your artistic life. The need to worry to deal with projects will fall away and you will be left with gracefully moving through those projects. You will have more patience with yourself to take those baby steps towards new goals. Once you begin achieving your goals, a whole world will open up to you. Notice if you are happier with your artwork or how you handle challenges. Are you becoming more innovative or trying new things? Are you becoming a better artist and more creative? You will understand that meditation is a path for a creator, and the breaths you take are the tools you use to build works of art designed for yourself and the world.

Painting “No Air” by Sydney Bruner- Twymon Art Gallery Resident Artist

Mental Illness and Creativity: Outside the Box

People with mental illness have a perspective on the world that is outside the norm, outside the box. Schizophrenia causes the individual to have hallucinations and delusions while Bipolar causes the individual to have severe mood swings. In some cultures, people with these experiences are considered gifts to their community. They are not seen as burdens or dangers to society; they are consulted because their way of seeing things is outside of what the norm can see.This abnormal perspective can be used to teach people in the community about other worlds or different ways of seeing a problem, for example. This life path is a creative path.

Creative means to think outside the box, outside what the norm is thinking and doing. The life of the person with a mental illness is a high form of creativity, of imagination.Their life operates on it, depends on it, and knows nothing else. When this person focuses his or her talents on bringing their creativity to the outside world, then others get a glimpse of the creative’s internal world. Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) was a talented painted and suffered from several episodes of psychosis in his later years. Sylivia Plath (1932-1963) was a gifted poet who suffered from severe depression. Louis Wain (1860-1939) was a Dutch artist who also suffered from severe depression and psychosis.

One must keep in mind that being creative does not mean you will have a mental illness. Furthermore, having a mental illness does not mean one is an artist. Many times, those who have been diagnosed with a mental illness are suffering, and time, space, energy, and resources are not there to produce art in whichever form it may be. Artists bring novelty and creativity to the world. The result can be like medicine for the artist who is suffering and like a mystical experience for the one who is admiring the artist’s work.

Paintings “Holla”(upper) and “It Hurts” (lower) by William “Billy” Twymon II

Twymon Art Gallery Founder and Resident Artist

Thank you so much for attending our exhibit and closing reception Activist Art for Social Change with Wendy G. Turner! We are so proud to have had such an amazing artist for our show and now Wendy is one of our resident artist!!! We appreciate you all for joining us and making this show such a wonderful success! We look forward to seeing you all again at our December Winter Art Sale.

Fresh Off the Easel

“Running Into the Light”

by William “Billy” Twymon II

Available for purchase at the

Twymon Art Gallery

Call us for a closer look!!!

“Sing It Baby”

by William “Billy” Twymon II

Available for purchase at the

Twymon Art Gallery