Meet A Scientologist: A Fine Artist Rekindles His Creative Spark

In a video featured on the new Scientology Video Channel at www.scientology.org, Owen York says Scientology helped him rekindle his creative spark.

Now 32, Owen York likes to joke that he has been painting since the day he was born—he actually can’t remember a time when he wasn’t creating art.

With the support of his parents, he and his twin brother Dan, a musician, were always encouraged as artists. But there was a time Owen became so confused and frustrated he nearly gave it all up.

In 1996, York enrolled in Chicago’s American Academy of Art where he honed his professional skills. But he also lost something in the process.

“I began to rely artistically on ‘this is how it’s done’ rather than on myself,” he said.

After graduating with a degree in illustration in 1998, York worked as a freelance artist for a while, until he realized one day he was just going through the motions.

“I felt like a pair of rented arms for an art director. I didn’t know what the hell I was going to do with my career or life.”

If it weren’t for the visit he and his brother made to the Church of Scientology of Chicago, York doubts he would be painting today.

“I lost the spark for painting at one point. I could do this or that, but I couldn’t just create out of the blue anymore," he says.

“And I got that back with Scientology. It breaks you out of your shell so that you can do what you’re supposed to be doing as an artist. It was almost too simple. Once you have the directions of life you go ‘OK. That’s how it works.’”

One of the most startling lessons he learned was about integrity. “Honesty is important, but it’s even more fundamental than that. It has to do with who you really are, and if you’re not being that, what are you?” says York. “That can just kill an artist. Artists sometimes get pushed around, pounded, ignored. But if you are true to your own integrity, life can remain a very beautiful thing.

He continues: “Scientology is about the spiritual nature of Man.”

And from the age of eight he knew there had to be more to life. He studied everything he could find about the spiritual and metaphysical.

“When you’re painting, you’re creating something from nothing,” he says. “To make something that people look at and go ‘Wow!’—it’s fun for me to be able to do that."

An exhibit of 10 of York’s prints and giclées (fine are prints digitally created using ink-jet printing) opened in late September at the Studio Fyra Arstider (Four Seasons Studio) in Stockholm, Sweden.

Born and raised in Chicago, York and his wife Tiffany, married there in September 2010, now live in Clearwater, Florida.

View the Owen York video on Scientology.org!

The popular “Meet a Scientologist” profiles on the Church of Scientology International video channel at Scientology.org now total 150 broadcast-quality documentary videos featuring Scientologists from diverse locations and walks of life. The personal stories are told by Scientologists who are educators, teenagers, skydivers, a golf instructor, a hip-hop dancer, IT manager, stunt pilot, mothers, fathers, dentists, photographers, actors, musicians, fashion designers, engineers, students, business owners and more.

A digital pioneer and leader in the online religious community, in April 2008 the Church of Scientology became the first major religion to launch its own YouTube Video Channel. The Official Scientology YouTube Channel has now been viewed by millions of visitors.