Healing Powers of Art

With an idea, a thread becomes a quilt, a line becomes a portrait, a drop of paint becomes a landscape, and a word becomes a poem.

For U.S. Army Veteran Carlos Carpena-Marrero, he did not have to look any further than the life of an extraordinary woman: his mother-in-law. Her strength, courage, and dreams created the vivid lines that he charcoaled across the canvas for “The Inner Beauty.”

“This [first charcoal rose sketch] is before she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and then this one is after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's,” said Carpena-Marrero as he discussed his artwork. “You can see in this one that the paper is nice and neat, and ready for her to write her own story. However, the other one shows the different wrinkles; this is after the diagnosis. But every wrinkle has a story.”

Carpena-Marrero’s charcoal drawing exemplifies the care, consideration, and love he embodies in his work. The passion he poured into this artwork, inspired by his mother-in-law, took over two months to complete.

“I had a great military career, and now this is basically my therapy. I enjoy this. I mean, I would like to have a business with this type of art, but I'm okay with making it just for myself and my family. This is just my way to detach from this world, the society, everything,” he said.

Last year, Carpena-Marrero participated in the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System Creative Arts Festival for the first time. He sketched a charcoal and graphite portrait of his father as his visual art submission. The hand-drawn shaded lines across the canvas resembled a black-and-white photograph developed from film. His work represented more than just extreme artistic detail; it conveyed the profound emotion and care he felt for his father. Carpena-Marrero's incredible artistry and passion truly shone at the 2024 National Veterans Creative Arts Festival, earning him a well-deserved gold medal from the judges.

The passion to honor loved ones is one of many reasons that Veterans turn to creative outlets, while another reason is the mindfulness and a sense of grounding. At TVHS, music and art therapists lead creative art classes to help Veterans discover ways to overcome their mental and physical challenges.

“I was in a [TVHS] art and music therapy class, and we would paint, and they would play music, and that's where I got a lot of my practice,” said Korry Rahn, an Air Force Veteran. “I found out being present in the moment is like another part of meditation, so it helps to rewire your brain.”

Rahn entered two different submissions into the creative arts competition, including a hand-crocheted Afghan blanket and a vibrant painting of a friendly cow admiring a hummingbird. 

The blanket was vital to her. For four months, she worked on it at night as she recovered from being sick.

“It was something for me to focus on and do – to keep me present in the moment, kind of like painting. So, despite being sick, I would sit down at night and work on it,” she said.

The Veterans’ unwavering determination and vibrant passion shone brightly with 98 inspiring submissions in TVHS' third annual Creative Arts Festival Show. Their hard work to build, draw, paint, sculpt, write, and overcome was present in every crafted item in the contest. But the competition, like a stroke on a canvas, is another successful step towards their recovery.

“Creative art offers an opportunity to build tangible expressions of feelings, memories, emotions, hopes, and dreams,” said Dr. Danielle Lauber, chief of TVHS Recreational Therapy. “When we create, we are putting our intentions into something we can share with the world beyond what they see on the outside.”

Check out TVHS Social Media for more photos from the 2025 TVHS Creative Arts Festival Show and learn more about the submissions that will continue to the next round.