Time for a Break
For many, the summer season is a time to take a necessary pause. Research has proven that breaks from work and life stress are vital to our well-being because the persistent strain can cause serious health problems. Jay Winner, MD, author of Take the Stress Out of your Life, says it can "Exacerbate just about any health condition you can think of." For example, constant exposure to stress can cause headaches, digestive problems, asthma, and increase the risk of obesity, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, and depression.
Stress is a biological response to a threat to your body. When you feel strained, the different systems inside you begin to respond to protect you. Your lungs take in more oxygen, you breathe faster, your blood pumps quicker, cortisol and adrenaline surge through your bloodstream, and your pulse and blood pressure rise as your blood vessels contract. Each specific bodily reaction protects it from danger. Still, persistent stress can cause severe long-term damage, so balance is crucial to your physical and mental well-being.
Taking genuine breaks from work is preventive medicine that benefits the individual and their work. Studies show that pausing your everyday work and routine can increase productivity, enhance creativity, and lead to a stronger desire to exceed goals. The collective impact of taking a vacation can increase your longevity, productivity, and creativity.
We've asked Objets Trouvé's owner, Susan McCalmont, and some of our consigned artists what summertime means to them and why it is essential to take a rest. We hope you enjoy reading why they feel now is the perfect time for a break.
What does summertime mean to you?
Susan McCalmont | Summertime means the smell of the ocean's salt water, beautiful flowers, and cascading trees that arc over country roads.
George Oswalt | Summer means heat, freedom, long days, and firefly nights.
Jon M Burris |Typically it is a more active time creatively because the weather is more pleasant, and one is encouraged to get out into nature and be inspired by what interests you like gardening or hiking in the landscape and having longer days of light in which to work.
Josette Simon-Gestin | Summer means going back to Brittany. For many years, I lived far away from home. To go back to Brittany is to go back to a summer of friends, family, hours on the beach, Celtic music, and biking in the countryside.
Diane Coady | Summer means sun, weather for walking and observing, gardening and art fairs, playtime with friends and family.
Marc Barker | This scorching summer is not conducive to painting in an unairconditioned studio as my painting days require a lot of movement and dancing around the canvas, so more time on drawing and preparing to paint.
Katherine Liontas-Warren | Summertime means traveling to all the most incredible places far and beyond.
John Wolfe | I retired from teaching several years ago, so all year is summer. I work in the studio nearly every, but when I complete a new series, I will take a break. So, I never know how long the holiday will be. It can vary from days to weeks.
Why do you feel it is essential to take a break during the summer?
George Oswalt | It is vital to retool and refresh your attitude with new adventures.
Paul Medina | I work all the time. Very rarely do I take a break from working in the studio. And when we take a single destination break, I take the material to make art.
Susan McCalmont| A break allows us to recharge our souls with creative inspiration.
Josette Simon-Gestin | The summer break provides a different routine and room for the unexpected.
James P. Cobb | I don't feed it is essential - probably part of my work ethic and not paying attention to the respite one should use to refuel.
Marc Barker | 'Recharge the battery' is the main reason I take a break, though I have no trips planned this summer, even to Santa Fe, which is my usual destination
Katherine Liontas-Warren| I recently traveled to Italy, and it was such an enlightening experience. I experienced the culture, art, food, and gorgeous terrains for three weeks. The trip enabled time to reflect on my art making and see other possibilities of creativity.
John Wolfe | It's very simple. You must take a bit of time to recharge.
What is a fond memory of a vacation during the summer?
Susan McCalmont | My first trip to the Outer Banks with college friends soaking up the sun, ocean breezes and the smell of the salt air.
George Oswalt | Having a one-way ticket to Hawaii with $25 in my pocket and finding a job so I could return home for my sophomore year in college
Jon M Burris | I spent the summer after my high school graduation studying art history in Europe, which was the greatest vacation of my life to that point.
Paul Medina| We used to own a house in Questa, New Mexico, on the Kit Carson National Forest border. It is a beautiful, calming, resting, and inspiring place.
Josette Simon-Gestin | I remember one summer hiking with a friend along the coast in Brittany and stopping to swim each time we felt compelled. Our frugal picnic had the taste of a four-star restaurant.
Diane Coady | I have too many fond memories! One is staying in a villa in Tuscany for a week with family and visiting Sienna. They both were like being in a painting or a movie.
Katherine Liontas-Warren| A tour of the Vatican is one of my fondest summer memories. The Sistine Chapel and the School of Athens were an incredible and spiritual experience. I viewed the Sistine Chapel using my binoculars and was in awe of the colors and scale of the subject matter. The whole feeling was electrifying, and my entire soul was immersed in the presence of tremendous and masterful geniuses of the Renaissance.
John Wolfe | I have been traveling to New Mexico each summer for nearly 40 years. I meet a group of artists/ friends, and we paint, visit galleries and museums, and have a great time.
Do you continue to create artwork during the summertime?
Diane Coady | Yes. Several processes must be done outdoors due to chemical fumes when I dye silk. Also, it dries more quickly. I paint year-round.
Demetrios Papakostas | Yes, because I just need to! But not on vacation. During a vacation, I usually write or journal.
John Wolfe | My breaks and vacations don't occur at any particular time. The work dictates to me when I need time off.
Josette Simon-Gestin | I usually like to make sketches and throw ideas on paper during the summer.
George Oswalt | I am always working on projects. Summer just has a different rhythm.
Jon M Burris | Yes, because I am a photographer and particularly like working in the landscape, which is always more inviting to me during the summer.
Marc Barker| Creating isn't a seasonal event, so of course, I paint during the summer!
Katherine Liontas-Warren| God, Yes! I'm always creating art. It's what I do and would never stop. I can already tell how my work is changing from this last trip. I'm using egg tempera with oils and finding that both mediums suit my subject.
Is there a specific artwork you've created or another artist made that represents summertime to you?
Demetrios Papakostas | I have created several paintings after returning from a holiday.
George Oswalt | Yes, the painting I recently sold in the gallery of the two figures floating on the water represents summertime.
Marc Barker | Not from me. However, I have artist friends that do swimming themes like Josette Simon and George Oswalt in the gallery and more well-known painters that do nude swimming scenes which are very summertime to me.
Jon M Burris| Any landscapes made by photographers, myself included, who focus primarily on the landscape in lush places, including wonderful gardens.
Josette Simon-Gestin | I have been painting several series about swimming through the years. I have interpreted this theme differently, but summer is not summer for me without the perspective of getting in the sea and swimming. There is a parallel between the exhilaration of starting a canvas and dipping in the waves.
Katherine Liontas-Warren| Yes. I recently finished several pieces representing new discoveries and possibilities of egg tempera.
Do you have any more thoughts about what the summer means to you?
Jon M Burris | The planet is more alive in the summer months. I am more alive in the summer, so I am more active creatively, which is the opposite of taking a break!
Paul Medina | As an artist, I work in series. When a series ends, I sometimes take a short break, but usually, I'm on to experimenting and playing in the studio on a new body of work.
Josette Simon-Gestin | I enjoy the longer days in the summer when the sun goes down around 11.00 pm. More light makes me feel lighter and with more possibilities.
Demetrios Papakostas | I need to spend time with family and friends, get away for a little while, and recharge myself.
John Wolfe | Breaks are important to me whenever they occur. Time to rethink and recharge.
Katherine Liontas-Warren | I believe a change of scenery is always best for an artist. It allows you to change and see the world with different eyes. Traveling is so wonderful for meeting new people and experiencing a unique culture. Sometimes our studio is too safe. Traveling takes you beyond those four walls and into a world of many open doors with incredible possibilities for learning and experiencing life with new and curious eyes.
Château de Sable #1 by Josette Simon-Gestin
Organic Abstraction #6 by Jon M Burris
Rocky Seascape Overlook by James Cobb
Virtual Reality by George Oswalt
Blue Lake by Demetrios Papakostas
Calm in the Briar by Paul Medina
Two Diamonds - The Sky and The Sea by Katherine Liontas-Warren
Wait for Me by Diane Coady
Author and civil rights activist Maya Angelou said, "Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from cares which will not withdraw from us." The Objets Trouvés team hopes you and your family can find time to take a few days away to rest, recharge, and be inspired for the rest of the year ahead!
Please contact us if you're interested in learning more about our gallery and consigned artists.
