Fresh Start

In July of 09, I found myself unemployed. I wish I could say that I quit my job so that I could focus on making art full-time, but sadly it was a result of a corporate layoff. Friends and family attempted to cheer me up by telling me cliches like, "everything happens for a reason" and "bigger and better opportunities await you." In those first few weeks, after the loss, it was extremely difficult for me to find any truth to those statements. I was feeling too hurt, angry, sad,and scared to see the positives. It was a true challenge to fight through those feelings and get to the bigger and better opportunities that were waiting for me. The one thing that saved me was ART!

Art has always been there for me. Art listens closely, carefully, and accepts every action and emotion without judgement or cliche advise. Art has the ability to capture our raw, unabashed, ugly emotions and turn them into something beautiful...breathtaking even. It offers safety and comfort when other avenues of expressing ones emotions are closed off or are unavailable. It provides a way to speak ones true thoughts and feelings, no matter how ridiculous, angry, silly, or over the top they may be, without having to verbally articulate them in just the right way so that others may understand. I have never been very good at articulating myself when I am emotionally charged, but with art I can say exactly what I mean.

Art and I rekindled a long overdue relationship as a result of losing my job. Art helped me to process my feelings about the enormous changes that I was experiencing,  aided in concrete visualization of new goals, and guided me towards a path to achieving them. Months later, I can finally say that I am truly happy that I lost that job. I have been able to seize many wonderful opportunities as a result!

The most significant of those opportunities was the gift of time to make art everyday for several months. Another was starting my etsy store and selling my artwork on consignment in the Tarpon Bay Explorer Gift Shop on Sanibel Island. Finally, this experience has allowed me to recultivate my personal identity as artist. And that, I can clearly articulate---It feels AMAZING!