Reflections on the Art You’ve Made

by Joseph Hobbs

This week, I thought it best to appreciate all of the pieces and works already that accompany our articles. While visible all along, it is very rewarding and worthwhile to simply process all of the different pictures, paintings and constructive development made within this project of ours and the articles created up to this point. 

Everyday People from All Walks of Life - My Art Uplifts

The catalogue of articles I’ve written up to this point is something I’m proud of, but this pales in comparison to the wider project. The script I’m typing now is nothing like the impressive nature of the finished article within a Journal, joined by the beautiful paintings and pictures contributed by others, and the well wishes of those who have reached out to us. Much like the art I have described in previous weeks, this ‘performance’ if you want to see it that way was in fact the result of a group, within an organisation, and greatly benefitted by the voluntary gifts of other content creators.

Social Painting with a Twist! - My Art Uplifts

With your work and the aid of others, that makes the whole picture. It’s lovely to see all of the beauty created here, these photos and pieces made by people that have this website in common. Not something from Photoshop, nothing made by a company, nothing commissioned for a great deal of money. Just people in the audience, that kind of art is right here, and it’s humbling and touching to have proof that brilliant artwork is being created and discovered right now by people in the area. Each article has been accompanied by beautiful pictures I have never seen, a reality that speaks both for me, and in better ways than I ever could with words alone.

Paint a Healthier Mind for Balanced Living - My Art Uplifts

I have argued in the past that culture comes from community, that senses of tradition, beauty, items and creations with resonance and impact began with the shared appreciation and intensity that always starts small. Each one of these articles, and the creations of My Art Uplifts as a whole began with one word. It was at some point another idea. A fancy, an image, and an impression. Culture at its most constructive is the attempt to elevate the human spirit and the human condition, from the epicentre of the community that created it. In this case the Nottingham area spreading out and centring upon supporting and uplifting itself with aspirations of beautiful aesthetics and illumination to those in dark or difficult places.

Encouraging Styles of Expression for Wellbeing Initiatives - My Art Uplifts

All of those positive, elegant, and lofty notions are like a plant filled with water, or a body filled with blood. That lifeblood is the ‘amateur’, each contributor, simple or complex work that so many people here had the courage to finish. The two people I work with here, writing these articles including my colleague Harvey and Funs. Three people who are part of one cell in a wider plant. Another cell would be each contributor, those who fund and lead the initiative, those who aim to improve it, and those who give it relevance and meaning by reading each of the different article writers and other areas of the larger website. 

A moment of reflection, and to appreciate all of that effort and positivity is well worth writing about.