Transforming Power of Art

I hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of good people and good eats! I cooked two turkeys, made two different cranberry sauce and got to visit with family (42 in total...a few of them couldn't make it). And I'm spending the weekend at the Old Chicken Farm Art Center's annual Thanksgiving Open House.

When most people hear "Chicken Farm," they imagine a stinky, messy place...but fortunately Artist Roger Allen saw a whole lot more when he came across the old chicken farm. Established in 1971, the art center is a mecca of creativity. The three-acre compound is a place for artists to come together, live and work, share and play.

This weekend I'm hobnobbing with woodworkers, painters, sculptors, potters, weavers, soap makers and more. The Open House is three days worth of fun: great food cooked in an outdoor brick oven, musicians performing folk and popular tunes, kids activities, tarot card reading, arts and crafts booths and more.

People have traveled in from all over -- Oklahoma, Hong Kong, Dallas and other parts of Texas, England and more. So much fun!

I'm thankful for artists and their imagination. I'm thankful for the transforming power of creativity. And I'm thankful to be part of such a vibrant community. :)

Here's a Trip Advisor Review of the Chicken Farm.

Thoughts on God and Art (Writing)

Sometimes you stumble across wisdom so profound that it pulls you out of the mad rush of the world around you and freezes you in the moment. Finally when the awe melts and understanding seeps into your thoughts, you're left riding a swell of warm gratitude and the need to share.

I present you the words of Agnes de Mille:

"I believe that God made me an artist, and my making art is my way of saying thank you....

When we believe "the odds are stacked against us, we are choosing to believe that "the odds" are more powerful not only than our own gifts, but also than God.

If the acorn can become the oak, why can't our ideas flourish into mighty manifestations?....

Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what's next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little. The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark."