In all things, there is a silver lining. My mother’s funeral was an opportunity to see my old art teacher and his wife, Ed and Linda Buttwinick. Many decades ago, after getting kicked out of a company that I started (Mizanne GolfWear), my business school mentor at UCLA suggested that I take an art class as therapy. His wife was an artist and took classes at Brentwood Art Center nearby.
Dutifully, I trotted off to Brentwood Art Center, asking for Ed Buttwinick. Ed ran the art side of the school, teaching and hiring all the teachers. His wife ran the administration side with the help of a few full-time employees. I relayed that I was seeking an art class based on the suggestion of my business school advisor. Ed heard the words “business school” and immediately proposed a swap: business advice for their school for art classes. I signed up for the life drawing class that he taught, and thus began a wonderful healing period in my life.
Brentwood Art Center was, in fact, well run, but Linda craved some tightening up of procedures and some ideas to maximize what they could do with their space. We spent lovely afternoons together noshing at her house while creating a procedures manual for operations. We came up with weekend workshops that I partook in. It did help that I was taking classes — as many as 3 a week — so I could see their business up close and personal.
But it was also such a healing time for me. In this warm embrace of a family business, Ed and Linda took especial pains to thank me repeatedly for my time and ideas. The impact, they insisted, was huge. But I still believe that this was a well-run school so it was easy to make incremental improvements.
After about a little over a year, I ended up moving to Boston with my husband to return to my own company Aquent. It was not easy to find another art school that was so wonderfully warm and so creatively challenging. I tried a few things here and there but I ended up putting art on hold after the kids came, so it’s been about twenty years since I’ve been able to paint and draw with regularity.
Still, my home is full of art. Both my oldest and youngest pursue art. My oldest is at the Rhode Island School of Design. My youngest has been drawing manga for years. It’s a tough crowd to show my art. They are kind in their critiques, helpfully pointed out where my proportion is off because sometimes I know it’s off, but I can’t figure out how to fix it.
I’m enjoying being back at an art school again. I’ve signed up for life drawing and portrait classes this year. I’ve always struggled with capturing faces. And now I find myself thinking more about shadow shapes and the formula of proportion for breaking down a face. I’m not sure where this is going, but it’s a drawing challenge that feels like it is coming full circle.
Art as therapy was the best advice that I’ve received as a business school student. Creativity is a healing medium. I think it’s a form of meditation … these timed drawings where I fight what my mind thinks and try to focus on what my eyes actually see. It’s a pure form of staying present.
How about you? Is anyone else exploring art at a later stage in life? Isn’t it funny that no matter how “bad” you did, it’s always so satisfying to spend time creating art? Thanks for listening to my art journey.
p.s. Here are a few art books to learn more.
The Female Body in Art by Amy Dempsey
Explore the female body in art, from the Renaissance Period to modern times. More than 80 artists are represented with their renditions of the female body, both adorned and unadorned. Personally, I find it much easier to draw the nude female figure, because clothing adds a lot of details that are hard to depict accurately. This lovely coffee table book also presents art in both 2-D and 3-D. It’s a thoughtful collection to see historically how artists have depicted the female form. For students interested in art college, this book will give them an overview of art history. [adult art book, ages 14 and up]
Start with a Teapot: An unexpected guide to the art of drawing by Enric Lax
This is a clever way to break down simple shapes to draw anything! The first step is to start with a teapot. The book gives step-by-step instructions on how to deconstruct the teapot into an elephant. The next page is how to turn the elephant into a horse. Page by page, this book will turn anyone into a confident artist! [picture book drawing manual, ages 7 and up]
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Barbed Wire Between Us by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Violeta Encarnación
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The Traveling Taco:
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We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court
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Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
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This is amazing! I think art therapy is really good. I have tried doing art in this age tho im not sure about starting a new hobby at this age but maybe ill also try. I also enrolled my kid in a art class in https://georgia.edu.ph/ and maybe ill start with that ill ask her to teach me a little bit about art. Thank you for sharing your story!