Aloha everyone. My wife Sandy and I are starting a new blog as an adjunct to her website, www.arttoharmony.com. My name is Bob and I am becoming an active member of her art business, Art to Harmony. My assignment is to help her promote the beautiful paintings and glass art she has produced, much of which can be seen on her website. In addition however, I am an aspiring artist myself and hope to be contributing my own art for display as time goes on.
I have dabbled in watercolor painting on and off for over 25 years, without a serious commitment to art until (possibly) this year. I have just retired from full time work as an engineer and manager in the defense industry after 47 years. “Long enough!!”, says my wife. My retirement wasn’t exactly planned…you know how that goes…so I found myself in a quandary. Where do I go from here?? Should I seek to get re-employed on a full time basis as an Engineer/Manager, or on a part time basis as a Management Consultant, or should I pursue art?? I participated in a 4 week program by the firm Lee Hecht Harrison (www.lhh.com) that deals with people that are making “career changes”. The program I was in was called “What’s Next”, facilitated by Judy Milinoski. Her workshop was very helpful in providing insights as to how I might want to proceed. I am viewing this juncture as the beginning of a new phase in life and an early blessing. It permits me to explore what I really “want to do” as opposed to what I might think I “should do”. It is (possibly) an opportunity for me to pursue a lingering unrequited passion for art.
As you see, I am tentative about being an “artist”. My schooling was highly technical…it prepared me well to be an engineer and project manager of high-tech systems. My creativity has been very left brain. I wonder…”Do I have a ‘Right Brain’? Can I tap into it?”. I believe there is hope there. I am going to use the opportunity of this new phase to find out.
The image above represents where I am, where I’ve come from, and where I want to go. (I’ve manipulated the right side of one of Sandy’s abstract paintings…with her permission of course!) I am at a crossroads represented by the juncture of the life-ribbons in the image. My creativity has been dominated by left brain thinking and activities represented by the blue/green ribbons to the left of the juncture. I am looking forward to emerging from this juncture in my creative life with an explosion of both left and right brain creativity. Although it looks like a cacophony of color, it is harmonious and balanced as nature’s rainbow that comes from, and would re-combine to form, white light.