Time and Light Switches

If there’s an art form out there I’ve tried it, or at least if I’ve had access to it I have. I was a dancer for years and I’ve been painting since before I could spell my name. Needless to say my art studio is full of countless different materials and mediums with which I can create with. For a while there I was quite enamoured with multi media art and so I have accumulated many tools and mediums. One such set of tools I own is the materials to needle felt; wool roving and plain processed wool, as well as the special needles required to felt.   This week while on Pinterest, as is very typical, I was inspired by a picture of some needle felt. I hadn’t pulled out those supplies in years and said why not. So I dug out my wool and went in search of my needles. I sat there in my studio for probably an hour and made myself a mushroom that is half the height of my phone. It is far from impressive or clever. In fact it isn’t even well executed. But here’s the thing, I don’t work with te...

When you search for the creative process on the internet some of the first things you will find are step by step lists of what the creative process is and how it works. The most easily accessible information about the creative process is explained through a linear thought process and lack of any emotional depth. One of the next things you will find is this sort-of joke that artists make.   Step one, this is amazing Step two, this is difficult Step three, this is terrible Step four, I am terrible  Step five, this might be fine Step six, this is amazing  It all starts with an idea and often one that we feel emotionally attached to. Then we start and somewhere in the beginning it become difficult. Than if we can’t figure it out fast the small difficulty means the whole thing was a terrible idea or impossible to begin with. Then after we’ve deemed it terrible or impossible we come to the conclusion that we as the idea maker are terrible. But if we stick with it we co...

Over the years I’ve learned many things about myself and how I function. For example: if I need to force myself to wash my face I put on make up, because I figured out that the need to not sleep in my make up supersedes my laziness. I’ve discover lots of what I call hacks in my own functioning. As I’ve written about before I grew up struggling with depression, so one of my biggest challenges, even when I don’t feel depressed, is to get motivated. So I’ve found some of my own personal quirks that I can almost trick myself into doing the healthy things instead of relying completely on motivation. This is also true when it comes to my art.   I’ve learned that I can’t sit in my studio for hours on end, the most productive and best work is done in the first and second hour. Anything more and I start to get too into my head. I also need to have somewhat of a plan before I even walk down the stairs. Otherwise I get overwhelmed just looking at all that I could do, or I start random proje...

For as long as I can remember Van Gogh has been my favourite artist. I have had the absolute pleasure and blessing to experience the Van Gogh 360 exhibit not once but twice. The first told a story of a broken man who was tormented by his own creativity. The second was like walking into the feeling of a fantasy novel and tasting a new and strange world.   My first experience was a one-off, sheer happenstance, where I stumbled into the opportunity. It was back in February and I remember hopping from foot to foot with bursting excitement. After touring a grande manor and tasting some wine I was off to see my favourite artist’s masterpieces displayed with great love and adoration. I wasn’t expecting it to put such emphasis on the tragedy that was so evident throughout Van Gogh life. I could not help but weep. Because in between the brushstrokes and bold colour all I could see was a life that could have so easily been mine. All I could see was the deep unrelenting pain that he suffere...

I work in two mediums predominately, acrylic paint, and words. I’ve yet to truly combine the two and here’s why. Often the paintings are full too bursting with emotion and strife that I have no words for, there is only the pain or the wonder and I can’t find the way to explain it with the english language. Often the writings, the stories, are my desperate attempt to make the words work for me, because the thing I just lived had so much to it that I have to find 72 adjectives and metaphors for it to makes sense.   There is much of my art that feels desperate, feels like a bleeding need, a crying for attention. Because I think if no one ever bothered to teach me to talk I would have learned to paint and draw and sculpt my way into communicating. My first language was the brush in my hand, because I’ve always lead with my heart.  Part of my every day life is maintaining and doing my best to take care of my physical health. I have some unhealthy things happening wit...