Art has always been an act of reflection through creation. A mirror held up to the universe, seasoned, embellished or exaggerated with the heart and vision of the Artist. Sometimes it is comedy or satire; sometimes tragedy or melodrama; screwball or noir. Sometimes it is a shout of joyous celebration. And sometimes it is a plea for calm, or reason, or peace.
The artists in our Spring 2022 Issue of the Thieving Magpie – our 17th issue – reflect some of the angst, passions, fantasies and fears swirling these days and nights in the atmosphere we collectively call Home.
HOW DO THEY DO IT?! Where do these wonderful artists – ranging from high school seniors to retired accountants to medical professionals and hailing from Minnesota, Massachusetts and Myrtle Beach to Dublin and Vienna – get the grit and courage to keep creating when it seems like the world is on fire and everyone is running wild? How do they do it, and why do they do it?
Because we need the calm, reason and peace that we seek, and it has to come from somewhere. It doesn’t just appear. We all hanker for it, in seasoned, embellished and sometimes exaggerated flavors. Some of us “binge-watch” Mad Men. Some of us scroll through the food porn on social media. Yours truly, Mr. Magpie, is partial to the ancient airwaves of radio seeking to fly with fine feathered comrades – Eagles, Yardbirds, Black Crowes and, of course, Led Zeppelin. Art in its every form and format is the constant, the necessity, that keeps us sane, gives us harmony, soothes our savage breast. It is the temporary cease-fire that replenishes our souls and gives us the strength to not only endure the mayhem and chaos outside, but to frolic in it, to own it. To make it ours and, in the process, to make it better.
So, as always, we honor, cherish and give thanks to The Artist at large – and to the artists in our most recent issue, our current Parliament of Magpies.
Enjoy. Peace. Shaloha!