Orlando VA Healthcare System<\/a> and he was exposed to other forms of art there.<\/p>\n\u201cI didn\u2019t know about this program until last year,\u201d he said. \u201cThis helps me in so many ways.\u201d<\/p>\n
Living the words of his namesake<\/h2>\n
Much like his namesake, this artist believes others should follow the words of the late Rep. John Lewis: \u201cDo not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think all Veterans need an outlet. We need something to take us away. To relax us, to deal with my experiences,\u201d he shared.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lewis also spends time teaching senior Veterans and retirees to paint as a way of giving back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to pass it on and help them,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
This year he entered his local Creative Arts Festival, and his work was selected to the national level competition. The National Veterans Creative Arts Festival is being held from May 11-18 in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n
His advice to other Veterans is \u201cdon\u2019t give up. Find an outlet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Art was a big part of John Lewis\u2019 life growing up in Brooklyn, New York. Born in Puerto Rico to Trinidadian parents, he sought solace from the inner-city streets while living with his parents and 8 siblings. Veteran John Lewis holds a piece of his work Being the eldest child, Lewis found his outlet in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":447684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[859,5,1294],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-447682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creative-arts","category-health","category-visn-8"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=447682"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":447685,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447682\/revisions\/447685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/447684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=447682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=447682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=447682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![<\/a>Veteran John Lewis holds a piece of his work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nBeing the eldest child, Lewis found his outlet in drawing. His first inspiration as an elementary school student was comic books. By high school, he was teaching other students one day of the week under the guidance of a teacher who saw his rare talent.\u00a0<\/p>\nAfter joining the Army, his focus on art dwindled until it disappeared. After he served as a tanker, family life took center stage, and he was even further removed from his passion.<\/p>\nJust a few years ago, his wife Natalie\u2015also an Army Veteran\u2015discovered his artwork from high school while searching for documents. When she asked if he was an artist, he said, \u201cI used to draw.\u201d She responded, \u201cYou are an artist. It is a God-given gift and not using the gifts God gave you is like a slap in the face.\u201d A month later, when he returned home from work, Natalie had purchased canvases, paint, charcoal and other art supplies.<\/p>\nLewis, now 45, participates in recreation therapy at the Orlando VA Healthcare System<\/a> and he was exposed to other forms of art there.<\/p>\n\u201cI didn\u2019t know about this program until last year,\u201d he said. \u201cThis helps me in so many ways.\u201d<\/p>\nLiving the words of his namesake<\/h2>\nMuch like his namesake, this artist believes others should follow the words of the late Rep. John Lewis: \u201cDo not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cI think all Veterans need an outlet. We need something to take us away. To relax us, to deal with my experiences,\u201d he shared.\u00a0<\/p>\nLewis also spends time teaching senior Veterans and retirees to paint as a way of giving back.<\/p>\n\u201cI want to pass it on and help them,\u201d he added. <\/p>\nThis year he entered his local Creative Arts Festival, and his work was selected to the national level competition. The National Veterans Creative Arts Festival is being held from May 11-18 in Indianapolis.<\/p>\nHis advice to other Veterans is \u201cdon\u2019t give up. Find an outlet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Art was a big part of John Lewis\u2019 life growing up in Brooklyn, New York. Born in Puerto Rico to Trinidadian parents, he sought solace from the inner-city streets while living with his parents and 8 siblings. Veteran John Lewis holds a piece of his work Being the eldest child, Lewis found his outlet in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":447684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[859,5,1294],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-447682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creative-arts","category-health","category-visn-8"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=447682"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":447685,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447682\/revisions\/447685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/447684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=447682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=447682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=447682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/Lewis-with-painting_r1.jpg\"){kind=link}