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My artistic journey began at an early age before I began elementary school. I can only attribute it's beginning to my beloved mother, Ruth Misenheimer Faile. My mother and father were married shortly after the Korean War, where my father returned home after serving in both World War II and Korea in the United States Navy. Before my first birthday we moved in to our newly VA financed  900 sq. ft. home adjacent to my grandfather's farm in the country and about 6 miles from our closest town, Rock Hill, SC.

 

Our new home was situated in a very rural area known as Lesslie. Lesslie was considered a town because we had a rural store that doubled as a post office, it's only resemblance to a town. You may still find it on the map today, but at the time it was a farming community and sparsely populated. The area was dotted with farms and their fields of soy bean and cotton. My friends were and still are the native American kids from the Catawba reservation and other farm kids from the area. Even though we were friends we were separated by distance. It was a several mile round trip on foot or by bike to my nearest friends house. During times of inclement weather, made the trip to see friends impractical. For this reason, living in a rural area could be a very isolated and leave a kid with little to occupy his/her time. 

 

My mom was quick to recognize my boredom and in the interest of preserving the peace of the farm animals, she was quick to address the issue. At first there were coloring books and Crayola crayons, colored pencils, and later paint by number oil paints. Sculpting clay and crafts of every kind followed and gave me a firm foundation in the arts. With my mom being my teacher, friend, and artistic companion. The pair of paint by number clown paintings my mother and I completed still hang in my house till this day and are some of my most prized art. My connection to these paintings will be solid and life long. Never wavering, as they are some of the deepest connection between my mom and myself now that she has long passed. I miss her love and wisdom, and what I have left to give others is my art. A product of the seeds she sowed so long ago.

 

Upon entering junior high school, I was introduced to my first real organized art class in public school. Ms. Mackey was my teacher and introduced me to everything from wood block prints to watercolor. Later in high school my teacher Ms. Mohler introduced me to acrylic paint and pen & ink. Both these ladies were influential on my artistic life and I enjoyed their classes more than any other. With art playing such a profound part in my life up to this point, it is a mystery why I didn't pursue it in college. I suppose I recognized at an early age how little we as a people value artists. We seem not to recognize the contribution they make to our quality of life.

 

Art is defined as: The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.  It is further defined as the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, drawing, sculpture, acting, music, literature, and dance.

 

Thinking of these categories, could you even begin to imagine your life without art. Art is a method of communication between humans beyond the scope of language. Take a moment and imagine it. What would your life be like if there were no paintings, sculpture, movies, plays, music. No theatre, no television, no radio. What a dull miserable existence we would live without art and artists are some of the most under appreciated individuals on the planet. 

 

In the 46 years since my graduation from high school, I have continued on my artistic journey. At this point in my life, I could not imagine my life without art. The connections made through art with not only family and friends, but with complete strangers has enriched my life. I suspect art has brought the same connections for you whether it was through visual art, a movie or play, a song, or the culmination of it all. Could you imagine life without art?  If not, I say, value artists for their true worth. They are priceless.

 

My best for an art filled life..

Patrick Faile