I voted yes.
IMHO art is the ability to create something new. Something that was not there before.
I like to do crafting but not the usual kind. I paint murals but not the usual kind. I am an avid interior decorator but only in my home. An agoraphobic decorator---now that would be a comedy of errors

Herc, you're full of wisdom.

I've always been artistic in all sorts of ways....My parents didn't think it was a good thing to be and after the required 7th grade art course.....I was not allowed any more art classes which broke my heart!! unfortunately I have been so overwhelmed the past few months that I haven't made time to do any art....Feeling better and I think I'll go work on the frame that's the gift to my son and his new bride!!!! They've been married since last October.....I have tried a couple of weeks ago to get to work and did dig up the pictures I was going to do on it.....I am a poet and haven't been going to my writing group or taking my "writing time" Even if I have nothing to take I am going to push myself to go any way....I just might get some inspiration!!! AT PEACE AND LOVING IT

I'm in the same boat. I once walked and chewed gum and promptly tripped over my own feet.

What a great thread, I've enjoyed this one.
If you are artistic, or even if your'e not, but you enjoy doing,I think you should do it.
Don't let anybody stop you from doing it. Don't worry if it's good or bad, just do what you are capable of. If you don't think it's any good, don't beat yourself up over it.
I have always been musically inclined, I have played piano, organ, trumpet, baritone, tuba, banjo, guitar, dobro guitar, proficiently.
I've tried other forms of art as well.
In college, I took oil painting, and sucked at it, at first. But I did learn enough to get by. If my life situation were different, I would still try my hand at oil painting.
Today, I'm already stretched out like an ironing board, as far time is concerned.

Oh yes, one more thing. I do have a weak spot for home made quilts.

Grama Herc - you crack me up! Agoraphobic decorator ...

I love beading, jewelry making, and writing.

Irs if you won't make one I bet you could go to a quilt store and pick out a pattern, buy the materials, and find someone to make it for you right in the store. Just a thought.

I took sewing every year of high school & while I was in college. I actually made my own patterns & made suits, which is hard. Last year, 5 years after ptsd diagnosis) I tried to make an apron, read the pattern and wasn't able to do it. It was like I never did this, no memory at all. A few months ago while cleaning I found a pruse patern & everything I needed to do it & I did it! However, I became compulsive as now I had something to do when I couldn't sleep & I made 5 purses in 2 days without sleeping. I'm back to not making purses...I'm tired

Artistic? Yes. Expressive of it? Usually too shy / afraid / mortified at bringing attention to myself / stuck in a mind-state that says, "It's not good enough." I love to write, read, and think ideas through. I used to be a professional singer...I adored the singing but the "public" aspects of performance were difficult -- I felt fine on stage while singing, but clammed up between songs and always had my heart in my mouth when people clamoured after me with opinions and praise.

Writing is my major form of artistic expression...I am working on a memoir, a book on the I Ching, and a book of poems.

Part of my artistic "eye" is to look for the beautiful in every day...to remind myself of it. I think it was Tolstoy who wrote that "Beauty will save the world"...I added, "and the mind."

Great thread...thanks, Rachel!

Hi LinasMom,

Thank you for asking. There is hardly anything more pleasurable than talking about art. At least in my world. I've been a musician since age 8 when I started classical piano lessons. But I was spoiled to my gifts and would memorize sonatas 1 1/2 days before going to UIL, making the top score and driving my father mad at my lack of effort.

I also played the violin for 3 years (ages 10-12), and flute.(ages 13-15).

I studied voice for, ahem, several decades with a primary focus on opera. This is probably where the PTSD was the most disruptive. I had no problem with performances but auditions were nearly impossible, not-to-mention, there is a lot of traveling and turns out to be such a solitary life. But oh I do love to sing. It makes colors more vivid :-) I've been a writer since I can remember (used to tell on my sister through notes to my parents ;-) this art blossomed into an intense flair for poetry and short stories.

I eventually incorporated oil painting into the mix. My Brother-In-Law describes my work as coming from a surreal perspective (which was interesting because I hadn't quite noticed it before but this seemed the best one-word descripters thus far).

Gosh, I love creating design on the computer.

Please go indepth on your artistic tendencies. What do you think PTSD lends itself to?

As I watch movies, am transcended by an aria or transfixed by a bewitching painting, I realize that I am not the one out of sync, but it is the world at large that cannot handle the emotional intensity of digging at the bottom of the barrel and that maybe it is my purpose in life to connect people to this lifesource every now and then that we seem to be so forever linked into.

Many blessings,

CS