Why do I make Art?

In July during an art retreat at the Grand Marais Art Colony with Minnesota artist and mentor Lynn Speaker, we were asked to answer the question "Why do I make Art?" Recently, artist Ursula von Rydingsvard answered this question with honesty and candor; her straight-forward answers filled a gallery wall at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. this summer.
https://knight-hennessy.stanford.edu/program/inside-khs/why-do-i-make-art

So, that got us thinking. Over a few days of making art and walking around beautiful Grand Marais, Minnesota, here are my answers.

Why do I make art?

• To plant the seeds of joy, hope, and my truth
• To make connections and meaning
• To connect to other people
• To simultaneously lose and find myself
• To step into the unknown without a plan, and simply trust
• To show my daughters (and students, and others) what it looks like to live the life I want to live
• To be a nicer, healthier version of myself, because I really do start to get irritated and then physically sick if I don't make art
• To be open, listen and keep learning
• To be free and make my own rules
• To have something of my own, and then share it
• To destroy, recycle, and build into something new
• To fail, try again, and face fear
• To touch and leave an imprint