Fine Art by Dennis Ryan
Welcome to kickthefaucet.com
The domain name "kickthefaucet.com" comes from a story I heard many years back. This story was told to me by a man suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder. He told me about a time when he was in therapy, while being discharged from the military for his disorder, where he confessed to his therapist that he would actually kick the faucet off with his foot (in public restrooms) after he 
washed his hands. He said he was very phobic about germs getting on his hands from the faucet's handle. He then told me that his therapist busted out into laughter when she heard this story. The therapist did apologize later and explain it just struck her funny as she imagined him jumping up and karate kicking the faucet. The name "kick the faucet" has stuck with me ever since.
Around this same period in my life, I was taking several psychology courses while getting my art degree, at a local state university, in Millersville, PA. I was also spending several hours a month of "professional learning" at a nearby veterans' mental health hospital. While in what I like to call my psychology learning stage, I learned a great deal about many different psychological disorders. I learned about general anxiety disorder (GAD), schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, depression and, of course, OCD. And knowing what I now know, I really feel for all those that suffer and struggle every day with these disorders constantly nagging at their brains. Most of these conditions are serious chemical imbalances in the brain. These mental disorders are a disabling reality for many people. Sometimes these psychological disorders, or diseases, are so severe that the sufferers need daily medication doses to control their symptoms just so they can function normally. Needless to say, my experiences with these individuals and their disorders have changed my life and most importantly to this website...my artwork!
The main navigation links above will guide you through fine art paintings and studies I have done on a few mental disorder I currently find most profound: phobias and OCD. As silly as it may seem to some (even to the occasional professional that tries to treat it) obsessive compulsive disorder is very real to the individuals that suffer from it.
- The "about" link talks a bit about Dennis Ryan as a fine artist and my artistic medium of choice. I also discuss some of my ideas on my art and give a sort of artist statement. Then, I try to define what OCD is with the help of some materials written by professionals in the psychology field.
- The "Phobia Series" is a collection of my initial concepts and paintings about psychological phobias and the detriment they can cause on the lives of the sufferers. My phobia series is graphically, object oriented and somewhat conceptual. Most of the paintings stem from actual stories I have heard and read about along the way. Don't worry, I use no names and no specifics in my pieces. This is to protect the real story tellers from exposure in any sort of way or fashion.
- The "OCD Series" is another collection of ideas and paintings, but on this compulsive anxiety disorder. In this series, I feel my artwork grows and transitions to a more (ironically to OCD symptoms) relaxed and smooth line-work.
- The "Contact" link is there solely for questions or comments about my artwork and to facilitate any interest in owning my fine art. I am not a professional on OCD.
I do not volunteer at the clinic any longer as I found some of the compulsive ideas seemed a bit contagious. I wonder, is it possible that a chemical imbalance disorder like OCD can be contagious? I mean, if a thought pattern can, in theory, actually induce the body and mind to increase or decrease its levels of serotonin, couldn't that become a slippery slope, sliding from a form of superstitious behavior into uncontrollable obsessive compulsive behavior?
I am focusing mainly on OCD but also other mental disorders as main concepts in my fine art for the foreseeable future... what can I say, I really like working with my hands - pun intended! More paintings and drawings are in the works and will be posted here as soon as they are finished. Most of my freshest thoughts and updates on the progress of any new paintings will be talked about on my blog Dennis Ryan's Fine Art @ blog.kickthefauctet.com
Thanks for being curious.