Finding My Way Back to Me

Occasionally, I lose connection with myself, my art practice and direction, usually due external factors, family, and other commitments; this can be most discombobulating! I can look at paintings I have created with a sense of the unknown, how did I do that?! What inspired me?! Where did I start, and so on.

It is an odd feeling to walk into my studio and feel like a stranger to myself! It can take, what seems like an eternity to find my way back to myself! However, I have discovered a way that never fails - is to remove myself, take myself away from the home and into nature - walk, sit, take time to observe and then, sketch, lean into the moment, allow myself to be guided by the process of creating.

Spending time sitting or walking in silence permits me to ground myself, I can hear and feel, see and smell my surroundings - this serves to connect me not only with place but with my self, the artist! I feel ideas bubbling to the surface, excitement returning in slow waves as snippets of inspiration filter through me.

Exactly this process has occurred recently; life happening in gusts all around me, causing me to lose sight and connection of ME. This is okay, there are many facets to each of us, I’m more than an artist …