Time and Light Switches

Back in the beginning of April I wrote about the importance of finishing what you start, now come the end of May I’ve finally been able to follow through on that principal. This week I finished two painting and it felt as great an accomplishment as a graduation. There was so much of my heart that went into finishing these paintings, now that I’ve finished them I’ve come to a place of celebration.   So much of the way our world is organized is to discourage from celebrating. Yes we celebrate birthdays and special occasions, and yes that is important and wonderful, but celebrating is not meant to be sequestered into once-a-year extravagant moments. The little things, the small moments are meaningful too, and deserve at least the pause of excitement. To truly stand and take in the excitement and pride that comes with even a small or first step accomplishment.  I am often described as an old soul, I’ve been told that I look like I’ve lived much life, that I have an air of matu...

My creative process and my journey with and into health are closely tied. One is always impacted by the other. And for as long as I can remember I’ve been given the same advice no matter the type of health I’m talking about, mental, emotional, spiritual, or physical. Just do it even when you don’t feel like it. Go on the run, eat the healthy food, keep working hard, keep persisting, paint anyway. It’s this insistent advice to keep going even when it all seems so pointless. When I was depressed this advise felt like the most insensitive thing that could have been said to me, but as I’ve gotten healthier and older it’s started to make sense.   There is some truth to be found in the doing it even when you don’t want to. But the key here is to first ask why. Why, because knowing why your motivation has failed helps to find it again. Sometimes it’s just because I’m feeling lazy and lacking energy, and sometimes there’s a deeper often more painful reason I don’t feel like painting. Thi...

To create and to make art is an awful lot like bearing your soul. Some of us were born with our souls on the outside. It has always been apparent that we’d continue on this way for much of our lives. Some of us had to learn to bear our souls. If art is to be good, if it is to mean something, it must first be raw and be real. Now, it does not have to be sad or angry or painful, it can be joyful or full of awe but it must be full of something.   I’ve heard it said that in order to create a compelling character they must be at least a little bit real, they must have some truth about the author included to be believable. I believe this thought can be applied to any and every art form. My best pieces, my most impressive or well liked paintings often hold the most emotion for me. I have one in particular that is somewhat abstract and was my outpouring of anxiety and fight with depression. My dad took one look at this painting and said it looks like roses. I have another painting that w...

Back in the first year of Time and Light Switches I wrote a piece called The Garden, I talked about how I have a boundless amount of creativity. I wrote about how if I were to leave my creativity idling it would vengefully come back to strangle me. It’s a violent way to describe it, but no less true.   Creativity has been put in the box of being seen as a want, and not a need. I’m of the strong belief that it is a need. Not just for the artist types, no I believe all humans need to create, to be actively creative. All people were made to create, whether that be the visual arts, music, gardening, cooking, or organizing homes, it’s all an outworking function of creativity. I believe much of the heart issues in our world would be helped by spending more time creating and less time comparing. (By heart issues I mean our emotions and our souls, not the physical heart.)  I believe every person has the ability to be creative. I think often times people are creative and just are n...