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The
Inspired Heart is artist Jerry Wennstrom’s episodic memoir, beginning shortly before his infamous destruction of his artworks and tracking his spiritual journey to a point where his creativity reconnected with the creative source.
 Wennstrom explores the individuals who moved in and out of his life and contributed in their various ways to his profound spiritual experience. He analyses even the most mundane – approaching everything from a point of grace and openness.
In the 1970s Jerry Wennstrom was a prolific artist making a name for himself in New York. When Jerry eventually admitted to himself that he’d chosen a career in art because it was the part of a lost relationship that he loved the most, the realisation marked a shift in his thinking.
A number of synchronistic events followed: an aging artist losing his eyesight, a mystical encounter with a wise woman who had asked her god for clarification when her career path suddenly shifted, finding a frame with the canvas cut out of it. Jerry began to realise that he needed to let go of his paintings in order to end the external influences on his soul, and free himself to seek his true internal and spiritual experience. After a month of soul-searching he destroyed his art and gave away his possessions.
At the time a documentary about Jerry’s art was close to being wrapped up. The end of film tied in with the destruction of his work and he was interviewed about his decision. By the time the documentary was screened, Jerry didn’t intend to view it, but serendipitously ended up attending with a Jewish friend and a Middle Eastern lawn ornament seller. He says the screening of the documentary was to be the most powerful night of his life, as he came to understand that destroying his artwork had converted it into an “empowering life force” that would begin to impact the world more radically than it could have done intact.
Wennstrom believes that art is a form of reverence for the source. His early work was reckless – produced one after another like a production line, without stopping to listen to what it was the piece was trying to draw out of him before moving on to the next. As deep as those pieces may have been, Jerry was only connecting with them superficially.
For the most part Wennstrom reserves judgement and analysis of both his own and other people's actions and life journeys, and doesn't attempt to solve the world's problems by suggesting an alternative way of existing. Instead he illustrates one person's peculiar and profound experience, with the hope that others can draw inspiration and understanding of their relationships with others and the world.
Jerry’s straightforward, pleasant writing style and the short, episodic format of
The Inspired Heart make this an easy read despite the unusual and sometimes intense subject matter. I found it energising and I highly recommend this fascinating book.
copyright © Elsa Neal 2006 (Please contact the
for permission to reprint this article.)
This
article also appears in BellaOnline.
Read
more about Jerry's artwork and his creative journey in Part 2 of this
review.
The
Inspired Heart is available from Amazon.com
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Related Links:
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