Live An Artful Life: The Art of Living Artfully

By Thomas Neel

Through an appreciation for inspiration and creativity, career fine artist, Thomas Neel, using his 30 years of personal experience, passionately guides you through the lasting benefits of happiness, self improvement and stress relief found in living artfully.

As a pathway to happiness, Live An Artful

• Language: English
• Publisher: Live An Artful Life Inc
• Release date: Feb 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9781732993716

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Live An Artful Life

You deserve the life,

An artful life can bring.

Filled to the brim with gratitude,

And surrounded by creative things!

I HAVE BEEN CREATIVE all my life. For me, artfulness is one of life’s greatest gifts. It has not only allowed me to voice myself in amazing ways and with an abundance of freedom, but my art has also allowed me to truly touch others in positive ways. This artfulness has become a way of life. A lifestyle which I believe has contributed to my happiness, my health, and yes, even my ability to inspire others around me. Creativity, by its magnificent nature, also allows you to be open to options, problem solving, and experimentation. It gives you tools to experiment or attempt.

Sometimes people don’t even try. Instead, they just exist, often feeling optionless in the process, and no one who loves life should feel optionless!

This artfulness comes from

active inspiration.

This artfulness or creativity also opens you to a world where you can express yourself in boundless ways as if you are creating a new language—the language of you! This artfulness comes from active inspiration. I believe we all can and should be inspired, and as often as possible, even if we are not ultimately creative in the artistic sense of the word. The trouble is, many of us don’t tap into the inspiration around us or even attempt to activate our imaginations. Inspiration and imagination are vital to being artful. It’s just a matter of opening your mind up to an inspired you. So, you might be asking why? Or, where will this active inspiration get me? To that I say, you may find a greater understanding of yourself or even a whole new you!

Imagine for a moment being in the grocery store with a choice in front of you. That choice is merely to buy peanut butter. Pick the one you want and forget the brand itself: focus on the label and what may have attracted you to it. Let’s go a little deeper—will you choose smooth or chunky? Why? Now, someone in peanut butter land has given a whole lot of thought toward trying to figure out the personal complexities of texture or the lack of it, and you can bet this simple choice says something about the inner you.

I see this one decision as not only a preference, but an artistic choice as well. The decision between smooth and chunky is not a taste-driven thing as much as it is a texture-driven one. And texture, or the lack of it, is a personal characteristic that says something about you. Some people like their lives to go smoothly, while others like a little crunch, or challenge, or even competition to sneak in there. That texture may find its way into other parts of your life too, especially an artistic one.

If you have to drive someplace, do you like the radio on or off? This decision is about sound or silence. Similarly, there are those who sleep with the TV on. If you don’t, you may wonder, how can anyone relax enough to sleep with all that noise? And they may wonder how you can sleep without it! Perhaps people who do this simply want company, and in a creative world they may wish for or need collaboration. Being aware of these habits though, is a form of active inspiration, empowering you with a greater knowledge of what drives you, what makes you tick and if creative, artistically floats your boat.

So, while I could go on with many more examples, allow me to ask this about your life in general: Do you live your life in color, or in black & white? Is it dark or light, highlighted or in the shadows? Filled with contrast and hard edges, or soft? Is it vertical or horizontal? Is it two dimensional or three dimensional? Is it real or an abstract illusion, one that can’t be touched or one that touches you? Is it blank space ready to be filled, or filled space ready to be erased? Is your life smooth or textured? One with words to be said, or words to be sung? Is it amplified or acoustic? In pitch, in harmony, or out of tune? Is it audible or visual, tall or short, wide or narrow, modern, traditional or even antique? These artistic observations are how my brain visualizes life. As an artist, I speak through creative expression, and I think you likely do too, on some