When I think about my life and all that I have done, I have been many things to other people. I have been a daughter, a friend, a student, a wife, a teacher, and a stay-at-home mom. I lived most of my life calling myself anything but an artist. I'm artsy, I'm crafty, or I just enjoy studying art and never good enough. It took the first 30-40 years of my life to become my own person - To question and think, who am I? and who do I want to be? What does that look like? I let other people define who I was according to what they wanted me to be. Now as a full-grown adult with children of my own - I'm finding myself, taking ownership of my choices and making my own path. Finding the confidence and voice necessary to express myself and allow myself to create. Not for anyone else, not because I want to please anyone but because it brings me joy and is life giving. I have titled this "Freedom: Taking Flight" because that's what I'm doing. I'm allowing myself to create solely for me, to create what I view as beautiful. I am allowing my emotions to seep out into my art, breaking free and seeking to find my true self. To be unafraid, bold, purely happy and content. Butterflies exhibit this so well to me, they start as worms and wrap themselves up to be born again - this new self that brings so much joy and beauty to life. They do this by merely existing and sharing their beauty with the world.
This piece can be viewed or understood in many ways. Who or what do we seek in this world to tell us who or what we are? There are so many ways to be guided, how are you allowing yourself to be persuaded? Is it good or bad persuasion? I spent most of my life letting others tell me what I should or should not be doing. I pressured myself to be afraid of others and what they thought of me. It has taken me a lifetime to break free, and it is a long process not an instant change that can be made. There are daily decisions in relationships, faith and even media on what we allow to shape who we are and what we want to become. In the end what do you want others to remember about you? How does that shape the choices and decisions you have made or will make? Do you like your trajectory in life? What is your legacy and what does that look like for you? How does it make you feel?
This to me portrays feelings of security and depth - you are not easily swayed; you are secure and confident in where you have planted yourself. Just like anything planted if you are taken up by the roots you CAN continue to grow, sometimes even stronger depending on your ability to adapt and survive. You need to own where you are and make the best out of what you have been given. Experience in life CAN be whatever you decide it WILL be before it even happens or is complete.
Continuing my Freedom series this piece is a fight song for the soul - she is bold and strong. Sometimes in life as we fight through the hard things we must decide how we want to be and practice it. Fierce for me is not intended to intimidate, it’s a state of mind, taking circumstances and life by storm and practicing strength. It doesn't mean I don't see the value in a soft side, I believe you can be both, hence why the tiger has a soft pink underbelly. However, when we decide to be fierce and take hard things on with confidence, we can again choose how our part is played and where it can or will take us. It’s important to practice desired behaviors and mind sets in order to make them a habit.
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