Christine (Martell) and I have been friends for about 20 years now. We met when we both lived on Cape Cod, MA. On the outside, we appeared quite different. She was a practicing artist at that point complete with a degree from RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), one of the most prestigious art schools in the US. I was a Real Estate broker and had never been the least bit ‘artsy’.
Photograph © Tom Tiernan
I decided she was an interesting specimen and for the benefit of humans everywhere I should put her under a microscope to see what makes an artist tick. OK, so I learned that putting an artist under a microscope is a bit like herding cats. They just won’t stand still long enough to be analyzed. At the same time I was being drawn into this upside down world called art. It was a bit scary. They just don’t think right. A bit out in left field. No consistent rules. Anything goes. Shape, size, color, dimension, texture. Everything is re-definable. I got dizzy.
I have always known Christine is a bit on the brilliant side. A visual visionary of sorts. She sees things others don’t. I’m not talking about hallucinations. I mean shades of colors, subtle variations in form, texture. This ability to see also carries through metaphorically speaking. She has the ability to read groups. See patterns of behavior. The pink elephant is standing in the middle of the living room and is not going away until its dealt with.
Back to why I signed up for VisualsSpeak. While Christine was getting her Masters, she was developing VisualsSpeak as her thesis. We talked often about what she was trying to accomplish. I threw in my two cents. That and $3 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. A small coffee.
I admit that at first I didn’t fully understand what she was trying to accomplish. Christine is a visual person and, although quite articulate, she sometimes has trouble putting into words the concepts floating around in her mind. The other challenge was that VisualsSpeak is a kinestetic, experiential tool. At the time I lived on Cape Cod and Christine was living in Oregon, so it was not possible for me to experience the tool firsthand. But still we talked and discussed various ways of describing the tool, ways of testing and researching it, as well as the market potential.
In the Spring of 2005, I came out to Oregon to visit Christine and Mark. I had been in Brazil before this and had cut my trip short, because I hit an emotional wall. Being in a different culture and not fluent in the language exacerbated the problem, so I booked home.
I was at a particularly low point in my life and the thought of visiting a close friend seemed like just the ticket. So I came, got the tour of the Columbia River Gorge and other places.
I also used the VisualsSpeak tool for my first time. Being at a low point in my life, I wasn’t able to see much in my future when Christine asked me. Actually I didn’t see anything in my future. Talk about being stuck.
I did a VisualsSpeak collage with a 2 part question. ‘What does my present look like and what do I want in my future?’ Being the non-conformist, I changed the framework of the question to include my past. It is hard for me to talk about the future without looking at what got me there. I was quite surprised by the outcome of the session. Not only could I see a future, but it was quite packed with things I wanted in my life. There was no indication of any of this when I had the verbal discussion prior to the exercise.
This revelation sold me on VisualsSpeak and the power it has to change lives, to help point individuals and groups in new directions and to transform perceptions. The process drew out of me what was already there, even though I was not conscious of the information I already held within myself.
What more can I say? I sold my condo, packed my bags and moved to Oregon to be part of a start-up company called VisualsSpeak. The combination of being able to be of service to humankind and to make money for the effort continues to be a compelling argument for my involvement.
