lifestyle / Art
JEREMY HOFFELD
Inspires Vitality Through Art by Ange Katz
22
YOGALIFELIVE.COM
Photos courtesy Jeremy Hoffeld
A
s I sit in my living room, I gaze at a portrait painted of Maya Angelo by artist Jeremy Hoffeld. As Angelo’s eyes gaze deeply into my soul, her presence is known here in my home. Art has a way of speaking to us in many forms: music, poetry, photography, paintings, sculptures, wall art, sketches. Art speaks on an emotional level which encompasses a different meaning of vitality for everyone. Hoffeld, a native New Yorker now living in Maui, Hawaii, studied art history at Columbia University. He grew up in a family surrounded by the presence of art. He and his brother Noah, a Juilliard cellist, released a devotional music album together called Invoke under the band name The Mantra Brothers. Hoffeld has always been inspired by music, often listening to his favorite live jazz album while panting. “For me, paintings — abstract and figurative — have always been linked with music and literature,” he says. “The Artist Way by Julia Cameron [is] a book that guides the reader on a spiritual path to higher creativity. Writing is a really good place to get honest with yourself and explore the things that interest you.” How do we begin to connect into the creative source of art? Whether you are the artist or the observer, Hoffeld suggests, exploration is the first step in the process of opening up to the vitality and gifts in which art brings. “If you are in a stationary store and feel the call to create,” he says, “allow yourself to explore with those materials.” Hoffeld defines creative energy flow as light. “Someone may have said something about your art in your early childhood and you repressed the urge to explore your creativity, and now that door is closed, not letting the light in,” he explains. “It takes courage to open up and flow with creative energy. Each time you find it, it may look or feel different than before.” When we open ourselves to possibility, the light begins to peek in — shining through as a ball of energy lending a hand and leading us into what’s next. Hoffeld says he experienced this first hand when he was asked to fly to Maui and paint a portrait of Ram Dass in 2018.
