Posted by Gracie2 on October 29, 2002, at 0:42:26
It has long been my belief that creativity and certain forms of mental illness are linked. A classic study on this link is a well-researched,
fascinating book called "Touched With Fire" by
Kay Redfield Jamison (subtitle: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament).In the years that I've been posting on PB, I sometimes refer to my "real job" as an x-ray technician. I rarely refer to my artistic talent,
although I've sold paintings and drawings and have done several murals in public places. When I'm able to produce like this, I do get great satisfaction from it. This artwork comes from a
"higher self" that I forget about when I'm feeling bad. Most of my posts concern the terrible things I've done with my life, and to the people I love.The other day, I got a call from a friend that works at the Washington University School of Medicine here in St. Louis. This is a school of no small esteem, it's quite well known. She told me that the school publishes a journal - I believe she said 4 times a year - a medical journal, interviewing doctors and teachers and staff. She told me that in the latest journal, there was a large photograph of a Dr. White standing next to a child on an x-ray table, and in the background was a huge "jungle" mural.
I painted that mural myself, 10 years ago. Pretty sure I never mentioned it here on PB. I've discussed my drug abuse, my alcohol abuse, my overdoses, my hospitalizations, my dysfunctional
family, my medications, my suicide attempts, my lousy self-esteem. I appreciate the opportunity to "vent", to discuss the horrors of my life. It rarely occurs to me to bring up the accomplishments of my life, or to judge myself by my talents or interests.But there is another side to me, something more than the shy, anti-social, neurotic, addictive,
paranoid part of my personality. I'm the best orthopedic x-ray technologist that I know. I sell books, and I'm getting pretty good at it. I've been offered a great deal of money for some of my paintings. I've done murals in public places and private homes. I paint small wooden boxes and sell them to stores. I collect cookbooks and books on Jack the Ripper, and I have an extensive library on criminology. I can read a map, shoot a gun, and I've never owned a car with automatic transmission. I have an aquarium, and I love fish.
I also have a cat, 2 dogs, and a 100-year-old house in the city.Little, if any of this stuff comes out in my posts to PB, since I'm too busy lamenting about my shortcomings. I think a "PB-Artist" site would be just the thing to draw people out about their GOOD side and how medication affects the creative urge. I would be very interested to learn how other artists - painters, writers, poets, musicians - reacted to a site devoted to them, as I feel that a strong reaction would help confirm
the link between artistic ability and mental illness.
-Gracie
poster:Gracie2
thread:7972
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20020918/msgs/7972.html