I believe that art has the power to inspire and heal. Both for the person who creates the piece of art, and for the person who receives it. I believe that we get to make our own choices in life, we don't have to follow any one set of rules, in life and in art. Yet, so many of us are too afraid to make our own choices. We fear how others will perceive or judge us, based on the way we dress, how we decorate our home, how we express ourselves, our music selections, what we do for a living, how we choose to live our life, and so on.
So people conform, they conform to what they think society expects of them, to what their friends and peers are doing. Then they go through life feeling depressed, anxious, restless and unhappy. I've been there. There was a time I was trying to make everyone around me happy. I felt that by doing so, it would bring me happiness in return. Well, boy was I so wrong, it actually took me hitting an all time low, to begin speaking up about my needs and making changes. My paintings over the last year show that struggle if you look closely. These pieces of art show the depression, the sadness, the restlessness.
They show the end of a marriage, heartbreak, and grief. Then as my life begun to change, so did my art. My paintings began to get brighter, livelier in color and subject. I was going through changes and letting go of fear, my art shows that journey. Each painting is a different moment for me, captured emotions, that shared both the depressing lows and the joyous highs of my journey. Don't get me wrong, I still struggle. Trying to make art for a living, isn't all beautiful rainbow paints, art parties, glitter and piles of cash. It's actually a ton of work, blogging, monthly newsletters, entering exhibitions, setting up my tent, not selling anything for months on end, and answering countless emails, so many of which ask me to create art for free, because not everyone values and appreciates the time and effort placed into each piece. So darkness still shows up in my work from time to time, but it's more about my hunger to learn more, do more, expand my boundaries and let go of fear.
When we let go of fear, we find creative ways to solve our problems. That's when we embrace our journey, we become fully alive. I also believe that we are meant for complicated journeys of brokenness and wholeness, vulnerability and courage, wisdom and silliness. All of those experiences shape who we are, and the way we experience the world around us. Art helps heal, its helped me heal and it helps people connect on an emotional level without words.
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