Welcome!
I welcome you to my corner of this big, wide universe! Think of this space as dipping your toes into a current of conscious wonder, experimentation, and creative life. Art is life, and life is artful. Color, texture, line, design, and value are the tools I use to speak my visual language, which is still developing.
I am a mother to three sons who keep me on my toes, share with me their wonder and woes, and inspire me to nurture my own inner child. I am also married to my soul’s mate, Matthew, who was the catalyst for this leap.
Take a good look at this photo. What do you see?
I see my artist child there. She is filled with joy and having fun, carefree. Picasso was right, every child is an artist, and the problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. We are actually all creative beings. Read that again: we are ALL creative beings, with things that light us up inside and connect us back to the joy in this photo. To create means to "evolve from one's own thought or imagination," and to "cause something to come into being."
Creative Vision
I have learned in my own ‘creative recovery,’ as Julia Cameron calls this journey in her book The Artist Way, that connecting with the things that fill us with joy and sense of adventure helps us remember who we are. Julia says, "as a culture, we tend to define creativity too narrowly and think of it in elitist terms, as something belonging to a small chosen tribe of 'real artists.' But in reality, everything we do requires making creative choices...expressions of our creativity." Creative expression is unique to each of us, down to the how, where, and when. We are human beings, not just human doings. We are meant to be in community, to be whole, to be nurtured as much as challenged, and doing what it is that sparks us alive.
My work in healthcare taught me a lot about the human condition. I witnessed a lot of pain as well as joy, isolation and community, and the nature of systemic (man made) challenges to actual care. Even though I do not practice in the field, I am still very much a heart-centered healer and nurturer. I look forward to how this unfolds with my art practice, such as commissioned meaningful works.
Adventure Is Indeed Out There, and Within
Remember Ellie from the movie “Up?” The first time I watched that (yes, I cry in the first 8 minutes every time) I giggled because I saw myself in her. “Adventure is out there,” every day, and I seek it whether it’s artistic exploration or otherwise. Each piece to me is an adventure, and I embrace the spontaneous unfolding.
This studio blog will run the gamut with stories, imagery, insights, and topics, but I will connect it back to living a creative life. Some posts will share my creative process more in depth than the soundbites on Instagram. My priority is sharing what is meaningful in an honest way.
I will leave you with one more photo, evidence that my artist child envisioned this future long ago…
Tell me in the comments, what sparks you alive? What is something you could reconnect to or remember about yourself? I would love to hear from you!
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