Optimist/Art, September 21-27, 1995
When artist Donna Estabrooks has been interviewed in the past, she has run into some bewilderment on the part of the interviewer. “I always talk a lot about my spirituality and then they say, ‘Just talk about your art, but I really can’t talk about my art without talking about my spirituality. Separating the two is impossible.”
Art and spirituality have been inseparable for Estabrooks, who lives on an organic farm in West Cummington, since February 13,1987. It was on that day that she chanted a mantra: “nam myoho renge kyo.” Loosely translated, it means “devotion to the mystic law of cause and effect through the recitation of the sutra.” Says Estabrooks, “I thought I would try this for a couple of weeks and just see what happened, but I started chanting and the benefit I got was immediate. I was an artist at the time, but I became a more creative and better artist. I credit it to being able to make a living as an artist. I really lucked into something great.”
Since that day, she has been an avid Buddhist and follows the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin, a 13th-century Buddhist who wrote letters to his disciples. It is these writings that have influenced Estabrooks’ life and her current show at UMass, “Rise and Dance.” She says, “The dance symbolizes joy. My mission is to create joy. When I wake up, I have 24 hours to create joy This is what I practice daily, so it was natural it would come out in my work.”
Estabrooks’ work has been displayed in galleries as well as restaurants in the Valley She also gives workshops, which she considers another way for her to accomplish her mission. Her workshop, “Your Life is Your Work of Art,” on September 23 at UMass, will center on creating books. “We re going to do collages in books. We’ll do the collages first and then direct writing. You write in the book without editing. Your pen shouldn’t stop moving. After two hours time, they’ll walk out with an illustrated book.” Estabrooks is lucky. She has found, early in life, a way of making her life an adventure and a way giving that sense of adventure to others.
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