The Adventure of the Unknown

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few years ago I bought 10 canvasses with the idea of getting creative using acrylic paint, collage, textile and other media. This plan did not materialize as my full time job in care homes, with 12 hour shifts, never left me with enough time, energy and inspiration to get round to it. The lockdown “stay at home on furlough” period was for me an opportunity to get creative with my canvasses as I had plenty of time to relax, reflect and to research online for inspiration.

Having studied fashion design in the past, I have always been interested and passionate about art and design. Exploring the web I came across an artist group called Art2Life. The artist offered a 3-day workshop for free (talking about Design, Value and Colour) and after this “Taster” you could sign up for the in-depth program. These three days where an amazing eye opener for me, a real game changer. The teaching was not so much about techniques or rules, but more about principles. It was more about “mark making” than developing drawing skills. Everything through the lens of “differences” as the doorway to making art. The idea being that “differences make you feel alive”. Statements like: “an interest and passion for art is all you need to become an artist”. And “pay attention to what you feel when you use a brush or colour” What brings you alive? “Your personal style is the result of a sequence of choices of your unique preferences”. There is always a preference, a choice between two. In one painting there are lots of decisions to be made. It becomes a sequence of yes or no. YOUR yes or no. Over time you become more sensitive to your preferences, you become better at discerning what you like or not, your choosing gets better, more refined, more unique, more you. Ultimately your art will resonate that uniqueness. When I heard all this it “clicked” with me that, although I am not good at drawing “I can make marks” and being confident that “I am good at choosing” when it comes to fashion and styling an outfit using different colours and textures. It is my experience that my outfits often draw a positive response from people whom I meet and conclude that apparently my unique style “resonates”. That was the moment when I set myself the goal to make a body of art and come out of this incubating period (the lockdown) as the artist I always wanted to be.

The adventure of the unknown that requires to be discovered. The journey has been challenging, out of my comfort zone, but also fun and rewarding. I have felt very much “alive” when experimenting and making a mess. Altogether it has been a great kick start of this new chapter in my life. There is a wide horizon of possibilities and much scope for improvements.

Greetings, Esther