Why Your Most Powerful Art Can Come From Your Hardest Seasons

When life changes in a big way, art isn’t something to wait on until you feel great. It can be the tool you use to find your way out and make yourself new again. A story from BLOOM WEEK, and a hard stretch in Nick’s own life, show why some of the most powerful art comes from the hardest seasons.

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What Happens to Your Art When Life Changes in a Big Way

This week, a woman told me about the day her commuter train crashed.

She was on the train, knitting and sewing buttons on her sweater, when the conductor’s voice came over the loudspeaker. “We’re going to crash.” They were going 75 miles an hour, and she had about 10 seconds to prepare. She threw her sweater aside and put away her little knitting scissors. Then they smashed into a stationary train on the track that they couldn’t stop in time for, and they hit it at 50 miles an hour. 150 people were injured.

She was severely injured, with a lot of back injuries, earlier this year. I met her because she came to BLOOM WEEK, our outreach to artists to get their art going again. She shared her story with us, and she’s doing much better now. She’s still getting mobility in her hands. But she came, and she made art with us.

She Wasn’t the Only One

There were other people there too. One woman came just days after losing her husband. A man from Dubai shared how he was in a really hard place. Looking at the apartment he was in, I could tell I’ve been there myself. I know he was stuck somewhere because his life had drastically changed. I didn’t go into it, but I kept thinking, people are coming to do art now, when things are really, really hard.

Why People Turn to Art When Life Changes

It was so interesting that I wondered why. What’s going on here? Then they kind of said it. Something in their life had changed, and it had broken them open. Now everything was going to be different, and they needed to start something new. A new chapter.

That’s what happens. Things change, and now everything has to change. Art is such a powerful way to get your arms around that.

When My Own Art Got Really Good

The more I thought about it, the more I saw it in my own life. That’s when my art got really good, when I went through a really hard part of my life and fully lost everything. The art became almost a reminder to myself. I’m not just going to make a painting here. I’m going to make myself new again.

Art Is the Tool You Use to Find Your Way Out

I share this because sometimes we get in a situation where we’re just making an object, a painting and another one and another one. Then when we go through hard things, sometimes we think, “I can’t even do art. Art only happens when I’m feeling great.”

This is a reframe. Art is actually the tool you use to find your way out, to create new standards for yourself, or a new way of being, or a new way to express yourself. It creates a lot of momentum. You’re making a new painting, but you’re also remaking yourself. I think when that happens, we can make some of the most powerful art we’ve ever made.

I always knew art and life were connected, but something really landed for me this week, and I wanted to share it. Maybe you’re going through something right now that art can help with, and your most powerful art is coming because of the hard things you’ve been through.

Also This Week

BloomStudio Doors Are Open (For a Limited Time)

BloomStudio is our online membership where artists from around the world come together to learn, create and support each other. The Art2Life Creative Team hosts a variety of sessions every day (mine is on Thursdays), and enrollment is open until November 2 at 11:59 PM PT.

Learn more about BloomStudio here.

The Music From BLOOM WEEK

So many of you asked about the music that played during BLOOM WEEK, so here are four of the songs! Hope these spark some inspiration during your next painting session.

• “Moon” by Faran Ensemble
• “Sketches” by Seb Wildblood
• “Krishna’s Dance” by Vic Vison
• “Beyond Solace” by Didacte

Leave a comment below and let me know if you’ve ever turned to your art during a big change in your life.