An Apothecary of Art E-Book

Ravenous Butterflies

• Herausgeber: Batsford
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 67

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

'This book combines great works of art with great thoughts from the likes of Sophocles, Harriet Tubman and Charlie Chaplin….. Intended to be a "journey" to help you through any stage of life, this book will leave your soul feeling well and truly soothed.' – Katharine Spurrier, Daily Mail SHORTLISTED for best Wellbeing Book in the Health & Wellbeing Awards 2023. Take a transformative journey to improve your mental wellbeing with this sumptuous collection of 80 paintings and uplifting quotes. Ravenous Butterflies is the online brainchild of artist Lisa Azarmi and was designed to provide a safe sanctuary for emotional wellbeing. An Apothecary of Art is a soothing blend of 80 beautiful paintings and inspiring, comforting and uplifting quotes to lift the spirit, calm the mind and heal the soul.  The contents page is artfully divided into 24 emotional journeys that suggest routes in which to navigate the book to explore different feelings along the way, and to provide comfort and solace in difficult times. Within these pages you will find both the works of world-renowned masters and the paintings of lesser-known talents paired with uplifting thoughts from great poets, writers and thinkers. A biographical section on the featured artists will provide context on your new favourite finds. This inspiring debut collection from Ravenous Butterflies features 80 exquisite works of art from the likes of Modigliani, Hasui Kawase, and Thomas Cooper Gotch with accompanying quotes from inspirational voices including Sappho, Pablo Neruda and Harriet Tubman. This illumination of the power of art as a source of wellbeing is modern yet timelessly beautiful – the perfect book to dip into to lift your spirits.

Leseprobe

Joseph Albert Moore,

Beads, 1880

Thejourneyfinder

Travel through your emotional inner-scape; explore places and feelings along the way using this useful ‘journey finder.’ Simply match the emotion to the page number. You never know where you might land, or what you’ll discover along the way.

Welcome toAn Apothecary of Artby Ravenous Butterflies. Wrap yourself inside these pages, find a quiet place where nobody wants anything, nobody needs anything, and enjoy. Take some time, commune with the profound beauty found here, and breathe. Breathe in each work of art, its colour, light and texture, and speak the accompanying words gently in your head, repeat them, soak up their sound and essence. There’s no right or wrong; this is a balm for the senses.

We all have our own phenomenology, and each one of us is unique. We have all led entirely different lives from each other, with varied experiences, but there are common threads shared by many. Birth, love, passion, success, failure, courage, fear, hope, loss and, eventually, death. The final stanza of Robert Frost’s poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ expertly conveys these shared emotions and the choices we face in life.

‘I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.’

How we respond to life’s journeys, with each marvellous twist and unexpected turn, depends upon individual circumstances and the decisions we make. Ravenous Butterflies was born out of a desire to make a positive impact, to help make sense of the roads we travel, and to offer a companion in the darkest of times.

I’ve had my fair share of twists and turns, some of my own making and others a result of youth, stubbornness, and naivety. I’ve learned that with age comes knowledge, and with knowledge comes responsibility. Responsibility to grow, change, love oneself and live authentically.

The combination of authenticity and self-love are a powerhouse, and once I realised this, there was no turning back. Ultimately, Ravenous Butterflies helped me heal in anticipation of a bright future – through the awe-inspiring power of art and literature.

Let’s rewind to the beginning. I was born in Sri Lanka, and my formative years were steeped in the tropics’ humidity, sounds, smells and tastes. My father was a tea taster, and my mother his supportive wife. I don’t remember my parents being around much, but Dad would read Oscar Wilde’s short stories to me at bedtime, kindling my imagination. I was wild and free, a barefoot Indian Ocean girl who spent afternoons playing in the garden and swimming. At weekends, we would sometimes run away to the hills and tea plantations to escape the heat.

William Nicholson,

The Black Pansy, 1910

I was almost three when my brother was born and five when we moved back to the UK after a short stay in Malawi.

When we arrived in the UK, snow was on the ground, a frozen blanket of white. England was a strange and lonely land; apples replaced mangos, and cornflakes replaced curried eggs for breakfast. There was black and white television, something I’d never seen before, and the days were cold and dark. I didn’t like it. I suppose I’ve been searching all my life to replicate those first five years of bliss, but time moves forward and, as my father rightly says, ‘you can’t trade backwards.’

At the age of seventeen, I met and later married my husband. We moved to London; he graduated in Quantum Physics, and I in fine art. The world was our oyster; we thought we knew it all! Unfortunately, mine was a lonely marriage, and rather than confront our differences, I ate to compensate for the emptiness I felt.

I painted, taught art and design, and worked in media before moving to New York for my husband’s career, where I continued to eat.

It was a miracle when I became pregnant with our first child. By this point, I was morbidly obese and unable to walk unaided.

I shed half my body weight after undergoing weight loss surgery. Finally, I felt free. It was as if I was a butterfly emerging from the cocoon. I spread my wings and began to feel vital and beautiful; it was time to catch up with the decade or so that I’d lost. After becoming pregnant with our second child, we moved back to London and, not long after, had our third.

Unfortunately, our marriage deteriorated, so I sought help and began analytical psychotherapy, which was a revelation. I was given the tools to understand why I made certain decisions and how to take responsibility for my actions. The work I was doing allowed me to take control of my future, and with that, sadly, I decided to divorce. Although agonising for all concerned, it was the only way to free myself and give ourselves a chance to be happy.

During this traumatic transition, I decided to make something for myself that was wilfully optimistic and bursting with beauty. And so, my lifelong passion for the arts culminated in a little blog, Ravenous Butterflies. It was a virtual self-help diary, a space to post images and text that resonated with me. I posted what I found inspiring or uplifting daily, and it made me feel better. I’m a self-confessed technophobe and had no idea about social media’s potential global reach and impact, but one post soon led to another. Everything was trial and error, there was never a grand plan and no commercial strategy to speak of. I remember the excitement I felt when I reached my first hundred followers, then my first thousand, a hundred thousand – and so it grew organically and continues to do so.

With every post comes a flurry of comments offering endless support and wisdom for fellow followers. People respond not only to the art or words but also to the effect that their combination has on the psyche. I’ve been repeatedly humbled by the discussions raised within the post threads, and the kindness and compassion shared so freely. Ravenous Butterflies quickly developed its own ecosystem, an open forum where everyone is welcome without judgement. I’m sure, like me, many friendships have been forged over the years. There’s been laughter and tears, debates about love, loss, pets, relationships, freedom and hope. Everything and anything supportive has a place.

One thing is certain: the sum of the whole is far greater than its parts. Alchemy occurs when the images and text combine, resulting in a wellbeing balm for the senses.

Over the years, our audience has expanded, and so has my curiosity for the arts. I’ve learned more while sourcing images and texts for Ravenous Butterflies than I ever learned at school. I’ve also delved into aspects of art and literature that I previously knew little about, which is a constant source of pleasure and excitement. I recall the words of my favourite tutor: ‘The trick is to find what you’re passionate about, then it won’t feel like work.’ I’m fortunate to have achieved this.

There was one constant through all the roads less travelled: I never went backwards; I kept up my stamina and strength and continued forward, unburdened by regret. Through years of drama and heartache, Ravenous Butterflies became my compass, my one true star, keeping me moving on. It’s not always easy to continue when you have no idea where you’re heading or why, but I was sure to persist and keep going, through thick and thin.

This book is the culmination of all of these life experiences and a reflection of my time curating and growing Ravenous Butterflies. At last, something tangible that can be passed from hand to hand, human to human, soul to soul.

I made this for you, with love and gratitude always,

Curated by Lisa Azarmi,

founder of Ravenous Butterflies

‘For myself I know not how to express my devotion to so fair a form: I want a brighter word than bright, a fairer word than fair. I almost wish we were butterflies and liv’d but three summer days – three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain.’

John Keats, from a letter to Fanny Brawne (1819)

Martin Johnson Heade,

Blue Morpho Butterfly, 1865

Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida,

Lighthouse Walk at Biarritz, 1906