“When I entered recovery I started painting just because it felt nice,” said artist Tim Armentrout. “It was something that kept me busy. But then it became an outlet that was big enough that I felt ‘I can do something with this.'”
Recovery is possible and each day is worth celebrating… Armentrout has connected to art and harnessed its therapeutic power to help him stay afloat.
Then he discovered a technique called acrylic pouring, where you mix acrylic paints with a pouring medium and sort of control the chaos that happens on the canvas… which is everything he says his life has been about.
It’s kept him independent, and out of environments where alcohol is more prevalent — one of Tim’s biggest struggles. In isolating himself in a good way to enter recovery and stay there he says feels really good.
“I’m learning to feel for the first time, ultimately — even though it’s something that has inspired my art for years of my life,” the artist said. “I’ve never really been fully dealing with what it means to feel anything.”
What keeps the artist going… his five children who look up to him and need the guidance he says he is supposed to stand for.
“And that I failed at for a lot of years. I have a lot of time to make up for. I need to live in a way that allows me to honor all the things that I let disappear while I was lost in my addiction,” said Armentrout.
Tim says if you’re in recovery, stay there.
“Do your best to own your mistakes and remember that they happen to all of us and seek help when you need it,” he said. “There’s a lot of people out there for us.”
Armentrout’s work is currently on display at Paragon Studios in Beckley, Tamarack and Beckley Art Center. You can also catch him this weekend at Artwalk in Richwood, WV.
Connect with the artist on Facebook: Tim Armentrout.
