Agarian Creations
- How It All Started
My
life has covered a wide spectrum of varied professions, though
none of it in an artistic aspect until a few years ago. I
retired from the military (USMC) in November 1994 after almost
23 years. It was during this time in the military that I was
experiencing health symptoms that baffled the doctors.
I
immediately took an interest in alternative medicine, since the
allopathic approach was not working, researching different
modalities to see what would help me with my health, . Little
did I realize that my research would lead me to my next
profession.
In
1994, I came to Tucson to attend the Desert Institute of Healing
Arts (DIHA) - massage school. During my last months in massage
school I got involved with my true healing passion -
Craniosacral Therapy. The benefits that I encountered for
myself, but also saw with numerous clients, were amazing.
As I
continued to deal with my health concerns I developed a deeper
connection with nature. I found that I had a natural ability
creating what I term as personal power items, like walking
staffs, from natural elements, such as saguaro (cactus) ribs,
antlers and deer skin. While growing up I always seemed to have
a definitive connection to nature – like a second home.
Gourds first showed up in the beginning of 2002. It was a
chance meeting that I came across some gourds and thought to
myself – I could do that. My first creation was in my eyes –
phenomenal, because I do not consider myself artistic in any
fashion nor do I have any art background.
Overtime I continued to allow myself to play with the gourds,
getting used to their subtleties of texture, density and how
they adapted differently to different color mediums. It was
then that they started speaking to me, telling me what they
wanted to be, and taking on a whole new life and dimension of
their own.
Today, I allow (as much as possible) the creative process to go
its own natural course. When creating a piece, I don’t have any
preconceived idea of what it will look like before hand. I sit
with the gourds and gradually the two of us seem to merge in a
sense, you could say I go into a meditative state and then the
image starts to appear. It may be a full or partial image,
whichever it is, I pencil it in on the gourd and then wood burn
the image. Afterwards I start getting the next phase of what
the image/gourd wants to be.
The
key here has been to trust the process. Create the image I’m
sensing or picking up, and not judge or intellectualize what it
might look like, or how others would perceive it. Just do it!
I
believe we all go through a process very similar, though we may
give it a different description. As long as we can trust our
creative side, no matter what form it will take it, we open
ourselves up to express our uniqueness in our lives.
