Drawn To Help is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization created by artist Steve Barr to supplement existing art programs at hospitals, camps and treatment facilities around the country. This outstanding organization helps arrange “celebrity” appearances by successful cartoonists and talented artists who want to improve children's lives. When Steve learned about our call for artists … [Read more...]
How Mothers Nurture Artists and Their Creativity
For many artists their mothers were their first unofficial art teachers, whether they provided actual instructions or encouraged their creativity by example. We learn from art history that Pierre-Auguste Renoir's mother was a dressmaker and Gustav Klimt's mother had an unrealized ambition to be a musical performer. It is widely known that Vincent van Gogh's mother was an … [Read more...]
Artists Confront Life’s Challenges With The Help of The Healing Power of Art
In this article you’ll meet three extraordinary artists -- Tommy B. McDonell, Andrea Pascual and Cyndy Baran -- who have faced enormously difficult challenges. These artists were selected to have their art presented in “The Spirit of Resilience” online exhibition, which we presented on this website from September 4 – November 11, 2020. When I read their statements and visited … [Read more...]
Artists Who Experience Their Own Healing Process Through Art
Artists Selected From Entries Received For "The Healing Power of ART 2020" When we announced our call for artists for our Healing Power of ART 2020 exhibition, we asked artists to let us know if they create art as a modality for healing. We are honored to introduce you to several artists who not only create outstanding works of art, they are artists who experience their own … [Read more...]
Betsy Cole Finds Herself Again in Art
Betsy Cole is an artist who expresses her feelings in free-flowing colorful abstract paintings. She reminds us of the importance of letting go and states, "I meditate and there is no planning or thinking, no judgment and no expectations." After experiencing a series of traumas and challenges, she finally found the joy in art that she once knew as a child. In this article she … [Read more...]
The Art Memorial As Storyteller
The Memorial Tells the Story of Steven Sotloff’s Wish for Peace By Tracy Ellyn Throughout the history of art, memorials have always been both a reflection of their times and the power of the image to shape our remembrance. Ancient Egyptian memorials evoked not the pharaohs’ facial likenesses, but rather their impossibly larger-than-life power and strength via the imposing … [Read more...]
It’s Never Too Late to Become An Artist
Mary Mirabal, www.marymirabalart.com, is an artist from Tampa, Florida, who transformed her life when she began painting after spending 30 years in Corporate America. She paints exuberant contemporary abstract expressionist works of art that have been shown in many exhibitions including those at the Tampa Museum of Art. The artist also has a "Mary Mirabal Art VIP Circle" on … [Read more...]
Nancy Calef’s Healing “Peoplescapes”
Nancy Calef creates highly dimensional and powerful mixed media paintings titled "Peoplescapes", that incorporate sculpture and found objects and her “plane slashing” technique. They confront a range of social, political and spiritual issues and have been exhibited widely throughout California. She is also the author of Peoplescapes -- My Story From Purging To Painting (Babu … [Read more...]
Mark Allen Finds Comfort in Drawing “Proper Mental Attitude”
Mark Allen's humorous and cynical cartoon series titled "Proper Mental Attitude", came out of a need to create something positive while his older son succumbed to cancer. During their grieving process, he and his wife Donna found insight in the realization, "We can live until we die or we can die until we die." His works of art remind us that “nobody gets out of this life … [Read more...]
Corrina Thurston Transforms Her Life Through Drawing
Corrina Thurston is a professional wildlife artist specializing in detailed, vibrant colored pencil drawings. In this inspirational article she shares her story about how drawing helped her gain a new perspective on life. After becoming chronically ill and having to medically withdraw from college she taught herself how to draw from her bed. What began as a therapeutic outlet … [Read more...]