tongue tied.

Creating art can be an enormously personal process, something that requires focus and intimacy from the artist, to make something new that’s is unique and meaningful. But the process of creating is just one piece of the puzzle. Finishing the work also brings on the desire to share it, opening up an entirely new discourse of intent, where we are faced with the questions of significance and what it all means--what's your statement? what do you have to say? where are you from? what are you doing???  This exposure comes with stress and expectation, where the idea of worth suddenly becomes part of the formula.

In recent years I’ve changed course in sharing my work. I no longer care to be simply a label on a wall, but realize that connecting with a piece, as in creating it, is a deeply personal experience, one that is only heightened by the face to face contact. Having the opportunity to meet, talk, and smile with those looking at my work has been both enlightening and tumultuous. I’ve seen my  brightly coloured stories turn to shadows on the street, and ive seen eyes of fascination from being stopped in one's tracks. As an artist, I am constantly re-calculating my motives, rearranging my display, questioning. With these moments of indecision, every impulse opens or closes a window of discovery. 

At times, my eccentric abstracts have had little place, but understood that staying true to my own artistic nature was necessary and continued to carve my identity. Moving abroad I made a hard turn in my life's path. A turn that would leave me having to rebuild that identity as an artist. 15 years of work, materials, parts of me in a space I developed a foundation in, would no longer be at my fingertips. Nonetheless, step by step I've faced the challenge with vitality. Searching and jumping onto opportunities like boards floating in water. I suddenly find myself  in the midst of tremendous history and talent, with the challenge of staying firmly on course weighs in.

With many months of disarray,  my creative corner is blossoming once again. Bits of finished and unfinished works scattered about, drops of paint on my floor and clothes, and there's that all but familiar tension of conflict and impulse. Creating is not just about finished pieces, but experiencing the sentiment of an artistic mind. The surge of energy felt in the midst of painting is something I wish to transcend to the viewer. Being able to connect, through colours on a surface, and seeing that spark of curiosity catch in someone passing by is a moment of reassurance for me. We need to look more, get lost more, pay attention more, appreciate more, and simply, surrender.