Marti's Art
Why "Holding On" Was Created:
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The artwork "Holding On" was inspired by the events that took place on September 11th, 2001. I didn't really set out to create  a memorial piece, I just needed to create something to help me get through what happened. I do not live near NY, I do not have relatives in NY. In fact, I live about as far away from NY as possible here in the US (Southern California)... but what happened that day really effected me, as it did so many people. It seems we can watch the news with such detachment sometimes - but this was very different. The next day, so many things seemed meaningless that were very important the day before. The dishes on the counter... the laundry on the couch...grass needing to be mowed... all seemed so trivial (as they should be, but priorities tend to get away from us sometimes). This sentiment also reached my artwork. All the art I had started, or had abundant ideas for - all seemed trivial and meaningless. I didn't want to create - I didn't feel like I had ideas good enough to create. I had mentioned to several people that "I just feel like I have to make something important... something that will mean something... I need to capture what I'm feeling somehow"... This is a very hard thing to do. To attempt to capture just what you are feeling on a canvas... not only that - but it seemed the rest of my artwork almost hinged on just this. "I cannot create another nice painting until I get this out of me".

I cant exactly say when the image or idea hit me. But it did...and it just flowed. It wasn't something that happened overnight. I didn't want to create an image of the disaster - I don't think I could have. I wanted an image depicting how I felt... how I perceived the people around me to be feeling.

The hands on this painting are plaster casts of actual people. The hands of family, of close friends, and hands of complete strangers who volunteered to be casted while I was exhibiting at an art expo. This painting allowed me to continue with the rest of my artwork - it was my therapy.

I think this is the only piece of artwork I have created, that I would not allow to hang in someone's house. It needs to be seen - it needs to be shared.

My website has been getting many hits from visitors to the http://remember.worldatwar.org/ site. I appreciate how many people are viewing this piece of artwork through this site - it is being seen! Hopefully it has been as meaningful to others as it has been for me. Thank you  for visiting - and thank you to the 'Remember World At War' website for sharing my "therapy" with so many people.