Approximately 0.64% of the world’s population is employed as an artist, at any one time.

Artists are amazing people, I imagine that for many of us at SPC being employed as an artist would be almost equivalent to winning the lottery - being able to do something that you are passionate about and be paid for it!

There is another interesting group of people in the world and up to 20% of them are employed artists at some point in their lives. These people have an interest in aesthetics that could be viewed as different to most people, an ability to perhaps see the details around them a little clearer than most. These people also see themselves differently to the way people perceive them, they have a disorder called Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder occurs when a person perceives themselves as having a flaw within themselves/not being whole and having a severe aggravation towards it which may lead to an obsession or point where they try to self correct their fault. For example having ears that are slightly larger than average may lead to a person obsessing about them or being unable to go into public for fear of retribution. To the average person, the ears are probably not all that large to start off with.

There’s a bit of a hubbub in the crazy (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) psychiatric professionals community about where the disorder comes from and why the members of this special group of people are so drawn to creative outlets. Some say that it is because they have a heightened awareness of the aesthetics of the world, others say they perceive them differently, others say that it is because they are artists they can find fault easier…. questions and answers - round and round.

I just say, good for you artists, you find a way to share your vision of the world and take my breath away. Every Single Day.

(Thank-you)