Well, here we are again at this time of the year, a time felt by many as a moment to reflect and be thankful. I hope that in some form or another, it’s been enlightening for everyone. This year, I’ve been going through some personal changes and challenges, keeping a lot to myself in terms of what I share publicly and working on my own growth, as I continue to move through what art and work I have going, and doing the personal work that is important to me. I’m grateful for the love and support I’ve felt as I’ve been focusing on that most of all, and I wish for everyone out there to have the opportunity to reflect and spend some good quality time with yourselves as well.

In art, I’ve been experimenting with some different sorts of materials and tools hoping to uncover how that may continue to shape my creative vision and voice, while at the same time, helping me to heal certain parts of myself that needed that kind of energy. I took some time to lean into the act of letting go and opening up, and into the introspective side of creative expression as well. I’m interested in experiencing how that will be incorporated into the overall emotional context and growth, and in how the images that may come from it all will take shape. I’ve been inspired by many of you around me, and I look forward to discovering how some new expressions of application might play a role in all of our personal expression and allegory in the new art we will create, and how the allowing for letting go will open us up even more to meeting ourselves in the art we do and to our growth as human beings.

I’ve been doing some new kinds of sketching and I’ve also been purposefully allowing myself to slow down quite a bit and take time for myself. Though not always easy, it has been eye-opening and heart-opening for me. I’ve enjoyed exploring some variations in experiencing myself and my art, and observing that form of expression and storytelling in new ways. I am starting to see some small shifts showing up over time and having made some changes, and I look forward to sharing that in the future. I wish for everyone, including myself, the patience and inner guidance to be strong and open in our endeavors.

In the slowing down and reflecting on it all, I can see more clearly the things that inspire me showing up more authentically in my art: nature, everyday occurrences, meaningful conversations, music, sitting with emotions and working through them, the things we find difficult to describe in words, the conglomeration of emotions that come with life moments, the magical way some things seem to show up at the right time, golden hour lighting, the textures of pretty much everything and how they were created, humans who are kind, caring, thoughtful, vulnerable and brave… the inexplicable things, the way things work, the sky…

As I’ve slowed down, it’s allowed time to reflect and sit with it all, and I could use this time of reflection as something like doing a reading of my art. Taking a look at the marks made, the colors chosen intuitively, the textural passages, the larger atmospheric spaces being depicted, and observing what it all is telling me. I’ve always seen these types of things as the metaphor in what’s created, and as the understanding that to depict and interpret what’s in the marks and imagery is to be capturing the spirit of what’s being subconsciously expressed.

I’ve been asking myself questions in the form of taking time, observing, and in the experience and the expressiveness and the act of creating. I want to allow myself to be thoughtful about this. The work will tell me the answers to those questions if I allow myself to be open to receiving them. Because the work is me, but in the form of the creative process and in the painting on a surface, having had a conversation with myself, having worked through the questions I’m seeking answers to. What do those marks look like and feel like? I’m making mental notes and working through those findings. Developing new pathways as I go. Letting the moments guide me. Continuing on my voyage of letting go of the need to control the outcome. Allowing myself to take a new turn because I felt it deep within me to do that.

I think we’re best when we lean into those feelings because I find it’s truly the energy life force in what is created. And this includes all kinds of feelings.. For example, vulnerability. I feel that within the vulnerability and emotion is where the story lies, and I think we can really benefit from being as attentive as we can be to what shows itself during the process. Allowing time for reflection. Remembering our why.

Telling the story of why we do the work we do opens us up to a deeper level of connection and understanding. I personally feel that there’s still a whole lot I can learn. And that’s exciting!  It’s truly a lifetime process that shapeshifts as we gain an understanding of ourselves and our voice and inner world. I am in support of allowing for it all to grow together. Because that’s how life works, and art is just a part of it all. And I think we can all benefit from that kind of unfolding. And another wonderful thing is that we are all growing together in this way on a broader scope, and that’s an amazing and beautiful thing.

So, I want to say thank you for joining me on this journey, for being a part of where this journey will take me and will take us all. I’m truly grateful for you generous souls who share your enthusiasm along the way, who try some new things and share your thoughts and experiences too. It’s inspiring and motivating to me. It’s heartening to feel that energy from you all. I hope you enjoy your continued voyage into the infinite and expansive creative world within you. I’m excited for you, for where it will take you, and where it will take us all. I’m sending good vibrations to you all to take along with you on your creative endeavors. I appreciate you, I’m grateful for you, and I’m always rooting for you. Much love.