Maxfield Parrish was an enormously talented, visionary artist, whose beautiful paintings continue to inspire us today.

He suffered from emotional and spiritual problems called, at that time, a "nervous breakdown." 

Freud, who rose to prominence in Parrish’s lifetime, aware of the fact that artists tended to have such problems, and unable to discover why, went so far as to theorize that to create beautiful art one had to be a bit crazy.  (After all, look at Vincent Van Gogh), but this was just because he stopped short of really researching and understanding the mind.

Unfortunately, psychiatrists then "moved in" on artists and there have been many tragedies from that unholy alliance (see CCHR web site for many examples).

It wasn’t until I read the book Science of Survival  by L. Ron Hubbard that I learned the truth about this.  Creativity is inherent in the being.  It is not assisted whatsoever by neurosis or psychosis.  It is not necessary to suffer oneself to understand and have compassion for those who do, or to tell the take in line, color, verse or film.

Several years ago David Miscavige gave a speech at the 34th anniversary of the founding of the Church of Scientology Celebrity Center in Los Angeles where he explained the special love L. Ron Hubbard had for the artist.  L. Ron Hubbard wrote, "A culture  is as rich and as capable of suviving as it has imaginative artists, skilled men of science, a high ethic level, workable government, land and natural resources, in about that order of importance." 

I salute Maxwell Parish and his passion and purity of expression and artists everwhere who inject their magic into our lives.