About Art Instead, My Story
“A sincere artist is not one who makes a faithful attempt to put on canvas what is front of him, but one who tries to create something which is, in itself, a living thing.”
-William Dobell, Australian artist
Many of us believed our fathers to be bigger than life when we are young. At least I thought that of my father. Raymond was a “big time” farmer in the heart of North America. Every morning he would stand at our big kitchen window, survey the flat North Dakota landscape and plan what he would work on that day. Was it time to sink the drill into the dark soil and plant the seeds or roll out the combine for fall harvest? The window faced south; he would point out and talk directions, north section, west shelterbelt. From him I developed a keen sense of direction, thus I have never felt truly lost (at least directionally). Now, I think I’ve found a greater direction with Art Instead.
Dad expanded his care to the local Lutheran cemetery, where the duties included lawn mowing and general caretaking; he also attended most every funeral conducted there. We didn’t talk about it much, but I grew to appreciate God’s large acres, as well as that little cemetery plot and the respect it indicated to the community. I miss my Dad, the farm, that cemetery; I love old farmsteads, visiting cemeteries and reading the epitaphs, thinking of my dad, the deceased, their lives and histories, and their families. Yet, I think we can purposefully and artfully display our loved ones within our homes.
Beyond farming, my parents were also entrepreneurs, from owning a local restaurant and hotel, to selling homemade crafts at fall fairs. Dad was good with wood working, so when he neared the end of his life and needed distraction from his condition, he volunteered to make my wood frames for my new encaustics hobby. He signed me up for local fairs, as much for him to socialize, as for me to share my passion and sell my art. I miss his homemade frames; they were of the highest quality!
For me, the addition of the tiny sprinkle of my father’s ashes into the encaustic wax and painted over the surface of the wood board represents his life physically in my art. The cremations turned it into something more, transitioning the art into a living loving thing. Warm soft memories of him are evoked every time I pass by it. I am calmed by it, like when I walk through a cemetery. While most of his ashes were sprinkled in that rural church cemetery, I am now far away and don’t often visit, “to pay my respects”, as they say. Instead, I will forever carry with me tiny fragments of my dad in my art piece: “Last Moonset Over a North Dakota Wheat Field.” And I feel really good about this.
This creation singularly led me to start Art Instead, turning passion for hobby into purpose for helping others obtain the same peace I’ve felt. When huge events occur in our lives, such as births, weddings, and deaths, situations often do not allow the opportunity to feel the full range of emotions at that time. This can lead to guilt, prolonged grief, or a sense of loss, even in situations where we think we should feel joy.
It is my opinion, that in keeping pieces of these events with us, it helps us process down the road; handmade quilts are another great example of this. Through art pieces from Art Instead, should it be the amazing flowers from your wedding pressed and poured into a Post Events Plaster Cast, or a portrait of a deceased loved one coated with cremation ashes delicately brushed over as the last layer in an Encaustic Cremations Creation, these treasures will be with you always. That feels really good to me. I hope it will to you too.
