ForLucas Joel Macauley, art has been a refuge.
Macauley’s unfortunate foray into drugs began in 2011 when he was prescribed morphine after a motorcycle accident.
Your addiction kind of takes the drivers seat and I hated that.
I never wanted to be in that situation,sharesMacauley.
It slowly just took things away from you.
I would lose a car or a nice place I had or a boat or whatever.
It was the things I had built up with my successeverything got taken away.
[Losing] relationships were the hardest.
Eventually, you dont have a place to live, you dont have a car to sleep in.
I remember selling a car for drugs one night and realizingI dont have a place to sleep.
Macauley eventually got himself into rehab where he spent two and a half months in recovery.
During that time, he painted over 100 pieces of art.
My art is reflective of my own experiences completely, he tells My Modern Met.
I have one goal with my art and that is to tell the truth.
My art has been therapeutic but so much more, Macauley tells My Modern Met.
While painting, I sometimes breakdownno words are spoken.
When I was homeless and in addiction I felt a loneliness that consumed my entire being.
Macauley continues to paint, often with his brother, and sell his work.
He hopes that people will appreciate his art and use it to learn to love themselves.
Why do we turn our heads and down our eyes to avoid such an obvious problem?
Where is the love?
My story is just one of many.
