I began painting in 2007, in my kitchen, with no prior art education or instruction. Unless, of course, you would like to consider taking art in the 8th grade an education. Although I loved art, life took over, and art became a distant memory. In 2007, I went into my attic and found a canvas bought some 10 years earlier, and brought it back into my life. My first painting was an acrylic copy of an old Victorian postcard. And there you have it… my beginning as an artist.
I soon discovered that I was creating emotional pieces concerning my childhood. It was never planned, it just seemed to emerge, and emerge it did. I spent my first years of painting expressing anger, fear, and general melancholy, which gained me much respect in the “dark art” and “gothic” venue. Fortunately, the more I painted, the more I healed, and the paintings
became less angry or dark, and more positive and uplifting… although they never lost their dialogue with the viewer. They did, however, lose the interest of my gothic friends, but brought an entirely new group of people into my life.
The act of creating a painting has always been like keeping a journal for me. I have recorded events in my life from childhood, to the present moment, into my hopes of a positive future. I don’t paint as much as most artists, as my work is born from life, born experientially, and rarely is done just for the sake of painting, although, I would also like to explore that experience. Upon becoming a Buddhist in 2012, my art has reflected more spiritual themes. As I learn new concepts on how to live a happier life, I put those concepts on canvas in the hope that others will be encouraged to consider these changes in their own lives, and also to remind me of what is important.
So there you have it. My story, such as it is. I am a simple person, who paints when it feels necessary, who is often misunderstood, if understood at all. My work can be a mystery to some, and an old friend to others. It doesn’t matter, really. I will do what I do, until I tire of what I am doing, regardless.
