My unique voice

What is it that makes my voice different? This is the question continually asked by the business development sites and books etc. it is a great question and a challenging one because there are so many influences that have shaped how I see myself and my world view. I want to say something of value within the images I create and the words that I write. This is one of many attempts to grasp the essence of what makes my art quintessentially me. Below is my attempt to clarify what as I see as my uniqueness…the challenge is that everyone is unique and has their own personal take on the world. My art has always been the thing that made me stand out but what in my art are the things, that when drawn together into an art work, are unique.

8 things that make me unique

Use of color: bold and bright contrasts
Personal symbology:repeated imagery
Powerful and gentle feminine imagery
Range of mixed media used to layer and shape meaning
Combination of words and images to deepen meaning
Transparencies that allow layers to glimpse through
Flowing lines, spirals and curves
Intuitive and spiritual

Or…what’s my story…

Within my work, I aim to create a sense of hope, possibilities and connection. Life is a layered experience.
My art story is a journey in the multiple layers of complexity, connections and memories that shape us and influence who we are and what we do as we move into our possible futures. We are complex individuals as we move towards the possibility of potential waiting within each layer as we continue our journey. My art work is a multitude of layers that allow possibilities glimpsed from previous layers remain visible. We are all made of many layers and the depth and complexity of who we are shapes us. This idea of our layered lives and understandings is the basis for my exploration of the feminine. This is my unique take on the feminine journey. The feminine image in her many stages is shown with both gentleness and strength as foreground and background intermix.

I sometimes think I know the outcome of an artwork but it always shifts within the journey of creation. The fact is that, the more I let go of the outcome, the better the result. This is the space where you listen to your intuition and act on it, even when it seems as though you will destroy what you have done. It is the acceptance that this is okay because it is the point of listening and acting that often creates the unexpected and helps take the artwork to a new level.

My unique approach is one that flows back and forth and not in a straight line. I need to live with an artwork to hear what it needs to say to me. My process is intuitive and one work feeds the next as I am continually learning and that is one of the joys of art. There is always more to learn. I use photos (my iPad is a constant studio tool) to help myself step back and get a fresh view of the work. I do not necessarily achieve accuracy on the first layer but build a depth of layers and transparencies that allow fragments to show through. Sometimes the best results occur when I abandon the desired direction that I thought I was aiming for and bravely destroy or cover sections. My art, like me are imperfect and those imperfections shape me. My art would lack so much if it was about perfection. It is the order created through the chaos that gives it form. The messiness of life flows into the mediums used as I use brushes, sticks, paper, paint, material and whatever is at hand to shape my imaginings. The Japanese idea of ‘wabi sabi’ which means the’ perfection in imperfection’ is a concept that I resonate deeply with. I love discovering those accidental areas of a work that somehow give a new depth to the piece. Areas that cannot be preplanned but are about allowing. The artist in me is the balance in my life. My teaching job is highly planned and runs on bells and deadlines. Art is the area of life where I can allow everything to flow and trust that whatever happens is what is meant to.
As I pondered these thoughts, I realised that finding order within the chaos and messiness of life has always been the way I have learned and the approach that enabled me to successfully move forward on my journey.