Podcast Host CJMiller sits down with SUNY Old Westbury Assistant Professor and Mixed Media Artist Fred Fleisher to discuss symbolism in art.

Fred talks about creating art that deals with duality issues and the perceived separateness of each other. The imaginative artist shares his process and expanding practice in maintaining presence and flow when creating his 2-dimensional paintings and sculptural installations. Fred incorporates humor, cynicism, and satire into his work by combining symbolistic elements from our everyday social fabric. In essence, the artist uses humor in art to "get through the day" and deal with society's current challenges.

His process includes surrounding himself with a studio full of iconic "parts," entering a flow state and combining different elements to express himself. He discovers an idea for something, works it out, and then allows some freewheeling while sketching the image.

Fred uses his phone and iPad to set up his rough composition. From there, he goes to his canvas, where the idea progresses and emerges. "I allow energy to unfold and see what happens when I put disparate things together," he said.

His creations include assemblage art as well as 2-dimensional surfaces. Fred sources " Spiritual Moderns: Twentieth-Century American Artists and Religion" by Erica Doss and "The Spiritual Artist" by Christopher J. Miller as inspired sources.

In conversation, Fred ponders whether symbolism can stop us from spiritually communicating something more significant, while CJ ponders the opposite. As CJ prepares for an upcoming show, he struggles with not adding symbolic elements.

CJ shares how many of us try to qualify our spiritual worth by whether our art is successful. We are not trying to validate our worth when we create art. Both agree that we shouldn't let our perceived identities stop us from connecting to Spirit.

CJ and Fred also discussed the writing process. CJ encourages writers to get their thoughts down quickly and edit later. Fred references "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield.

According to Fred, creating art is a way to stop the mind chatter, the thoughts of duality, and practice presence. The podcast concludes with Fred sharing how communication, both verbally and through art, is the key to personal growth. For more information and samples of Fred's work, visit https://www.fredfleisher.net.

Fred Fleisher is originally from Pennsylvania and has lived in the New York metropolitan area for over twenty-five years. After enlisting in the Army, he earned an MFA from Queens College, CUNY, a BFA in Painting & Drawing, and a BS in Art Education from Penn State University. Both nationally and internationally, Galleries have represented his work, and he has had recent solo exhibitions in Brooklyn and New York City. He has been included in several exhibitions and numerous group exhibitions while working with curators in the art world. He also organizes and curates exhibitions and is an Assistant Professor at SUNY Old Westbury.

For more information on CJ and his art retreats, visit www.spiritualartisttoday.com. His book, "The Spiritual Artist," is available on Amazon.

In this episode, host CJ Miller questions Peace and Human Rights Activist Hadi Jawad on ways each of us can promote peace in our communities. How does someone promote Human rights and Peace on an individual scale? Hadi encourages the listener to familiarize themselves with the 30 principles of the Univeral Declaration of Human Rights and begin looking at news articles through the Human Rights lens.

Podcast Host CJMiller met Hadi Jawad while serving on an Interfaith Panel with a diverse group of Christians, Muslims, and Jews and quickly became friends. According to Hadi, it is ingrained in the human spirit to love and be kind to each other.

Hadi is a Dallas peace, justice, and human rights activist. He is a follower of the principles of non-violent resistance, as exemplified by the Reverend Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi, and he opposes militarism and war. He served on the board of the Dallas Peace Center as an organizer from 1997 to 2015, chairing their Middle East Peace Committee and media spokesperson. He led efforts to organize protests against the US invasion of Iraq that culminated in the largest anti-war demonstration in Dallas history on February 15, 2003.

Hadi comes from a culture steeped in oral tradition and values the importance of storytelling and shares a story from his youth playing in his neighborhood. A wandering Sufi walked by and engaged him. The Sufi was dressed in traditional clothes and holding a begging bowl. At the end of the conversation, the Sufi stabs the dirt with his stick and picks something up. He motions for Hadi to put it in his mouth. In his memory, Hadi tasted the sweetest candy that he had ever had in the whole world and recognized the mysticism of the world.

The future activist was always gravitating to finding the good and miraculous in relationships. While Hadi was passionate about mathematics, he didn't want to enter the arms industry as an engineer, and instead, he pursued managing and owning a forklift business. Only years later did he listen to his true calling and decide to be an advocate for Peace and nonviolence.

According to Hadi, Judaism is the root of a tree, the trunk and the branches are Christianity, and Islam/Sufism is the foliage. Hadi explains some principles of Sufism. Sufis believe that anything material and non-material is one being, regardless of the question: Love is the answer. He defines this as the unity of being.

How do you stay in the centeredness of Peace:

1. When you're heart is being pierced, feel the pain and stay true to yourself. We are connected through our suffering.
2. Reach out to others.
3. Express gratitude for being alive.

Hadi is drawn to helping the underserved. He tends to look for opportunities to help those who have fallen through the cracks, and he believes that comes from his mystical side. He's drawn to mysticism and mystical thought and believes that love is mysticism.

According to Hadi, mystics understand that many of our desires are counterfeit coins and that mystics know where to find the real gold. Hadi shares a story about a villager who demands a diamond from a mystic. The diamond is represented as a rock, and the villager returns it the next day and says, "Give me the wealth that made it so easy for you to give the largest diamond in the world away."

Hadi believes that mystics know where the wealth is. It's not in your car. It's not in your relationships. It's not in a mansion. It's in our hearts. It's in love.

Hadi is working with Rick Halpern, Director of the Human Rights Program at SMU, to make the City of Dallas a Human Rights City that supports the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document is uploaded to the Spiritual Artist Today website and can be found in the practice guides section.

He concludes the inter

CJ interviews Dan about his current one-person show, "Pollinator / Not Pollinator (But mostly Bees)," at the Texas Discovery Gardens at Fair Park until April 28, and about the challenges of a solo show. Dan shares how he considered many different aspects when theming his show:

• The Texas Discovery Gardens location
• His attraction to drawing insects
• His environmental consciousness
• His poetry
• A bit of humor

He explains how producing a solo show differs significantly from submitting to a group show. It forces you to focus on your message, quality, and intent. A solo show expresses a unique aspect of you; who are you?

Environmental awareness is a strong message for Dan's show. Art has a responsibility to express the existential issues that we face today. You cannot find a place on the earth that doesn't have evidence of human beings.

Dan's show features paintings of insects and animals, all represented in a square format. Dan chose to present each creature abstractly to make an environmental statement. Additionally, he wanted to challenge himself compositionally by working within the confines of a small square. This exhibition showcases Dan's unique artistic style and his commitment to environmental awareness.

Dan uses writing and fine art separately as well as together. CJ and Dan discuss how he included poetry in his show and agree that artists don't have to "stay in our lane." We can mix different artistic disciplines.

Dan Collins, the local Dallas artist and poet, has maintained an artistic practice his entire life, participating recently in group shows such as Fresh Faces 2 x 2 at the White Rock Bath House and community art events such as the White Rock Studio Tour. He is co-owner of Tree House Studio with his wife, Rebecca, where they offer classes and workshops. His poetry has been published in various print journals and online. He is a commercial printer by profession. Now that he is closing in on retirement, he is looking forward to devoting all his time to visual and literary creative pursuits. He has contributed to and participated in the local literary scene in various capacities for over a decade.

For more information on CJ, visit www.spiritualartisttoday.com.
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