Big question: who am I? This could get complicated but I’ll try and sum it up in a few paragraphs. I suppose the question should really be, who do I want to be? In which case, I want to be exactly what I was born to be, a creator, a maker, a glowing spec of dust in this crazy cosmic swirl we call the universe.
I don’t think I ever really asked the question, “who am I?” until I was almost a teenager. I mean, I was a kid, I didn’t have any clue what kind of adventures I’d be getting into as I grew older and I certainly didn’t want to analyze my psyche at twelve. I fought the process of growing up. I wanted to be Peter Pan and never ever grow up. I held tightly to my innocence. It wasn’t until I made a horrible decision to unfriend my best friend on the playground in Grade 7 because my new best friend said I had to, that I asked myself how I could do that and who was I for obeying.
Truth be told, I knew in that instant that I didn't want to be that cruel to another person again. I wanted to do good and be a loving vibration in this world that can be so cold and unkind. Art was the way I could help spread that goodness. When I was in high school a girl that took the bus with me was having a hard time at school and at home as well. I decided I could help her. I thought she needed art. So, I asked her over to paint one day after school. We did this for a few months and she was really starting to turn a corner personally. She seemed happier. I felt like my plan to bring art into her world worked. It gave me a great sense of pride to know I had helped her in a special way and a way that I knew how. I was shy and art allowed me to truly be myself and to be a force for good in other peoples lives.
There are so many artists making this world a better place. Some of us do it with colour and abstraction, some do it with sculpture, some with craft, and others with digital media. I’ve spent many years now working silently at home on my art, too afraid to bring it into this world fully. Maybe it was fear of rejection, or maybe it was my insecurity and lack of timing, but I took that leap and here I am. Art is everywhere and in all of us. It only takes a group of Paintnite ladies (and gents) to know how much fun creating can be. Without artistic expression I would not be me. I am art. That’s who I am. Simple.
