Creating my own reality through art
When I was a cute, gap-toothed seven-year-old with a mullet and crooked bangs, I struggled with writing the alphabet, putting shapes together, drawing figures and coloring inside the lines. According to my early childhood report cards, I was disorganized, scattered, and didn't know when to stop talking. During class I often wrote silly rhymes, then got a thrill from scribbling on the chalkboard when the classroom was empty.
Little did I know I'd have so much fun breaking similar rules later on in life. But not until after I'd tortured myself trying to be the perfectly scrupulous, model straight-A goody-two shoes in Catholic high school and college.
After many private learning struggles, major career changes and dark nights of crushing depression, I was shocked to discover in my late twenties and early thirties how much I just wanted permission to make a mess with paint and accept the chaotic beauty of every abstract thought that came to mind. I was compelled to unleash various parts of my soul in paper notebooks, on canvas, and on my digital tablet. I have not stopped. It has profoundly changed me for the better. Creativity is not just a hobby. It's my life.
A totally imperfect work in progress who's no greater or less than anyone else in this world, I am learning to accept my quirks while improving myself and honing my craft. I hope you can do the same, and I'm rooting for you each step of the way.
For a lifelong perfectionist like me, mixing paint and experimenting with colors, ideas, thoughts, words, designs, etc...is a way for me to continually connect with the divine and learn to let go of my need to get things "right" or follow a certain formula of what art should look like. I've been there, done that, and all it did was make me sick. This artwork is about spontaneity and attention to details I'm drawn to out of curiosity and desire.
We create out of a primitive, burning urge to heal our wounded egos, but also to connect with our higher power, discover a new dimension of our souls, and simply put, create our own realities!
My mission, through my shop, is to somehow inspire others to live boldly and authentically through unapologetic self-expression.
May you feel so much joy and realize that you deserve more than anything to be your purest and truest self. Nobody else can tell you how to be that.
xoxo
Danielle