Yay...she's finished! "Layers of Me" a mixed media portrait sample that I have been working on for my upcoming class at Swank in Southern Pines, NC. What 'Layers' of me did I discover while working on my portrait?
I discovered that art has brought me to a wonderful point of my life...one of great joy and
even great pain. I am forever counting my blessings and appreciate all the opportunities it has afforded me.
I strive to be heard but have a hard time communicating what it is I want to say. I discovered that tears of pain can sow tears of joy simultaneously. I learned there is still more of me left to unveil.
I strive for balance in an uneven world. As much as I love my art, I have been consumed by it as well. It's finding that balance in all that I want to do and still being able to manage my life and that of my family is very difficult....trying to juggle it all is one of my greatest challenges of this new world I've moved into.
I've also discovered that while I'm moving forward in some areas, I've had to let go of things that were and are dear to me because I just can't balance it all in the way that I had hoped to do. My intentions were in the right place by my physical ability to do all things that have come across my table...well, I just haven't figured out a way to do it all. I think it would be one thing if I didn't have a day job, I'd be able to fit in a few more things in on a daily basis, but when I'm physically away from my art and this computer even, the better portion of the day, there are definitely more constraints on my time then I wish there were. (don't get me wrong....I'm GRATEFUL and NEED the day job right now so that's not a bad thing, just one of my personal hurdles that I need to work through in order to balance my world more so).
Creative time can be such a wonderful meditative time as well. I continually work out my joys and frustrations while creating. Even though this painting is a sample for a class this week, I managed to reflect on my life and my self while creating the portrait. I hope I can convey this to the students so that they, too, may discover layers of their self.
What have you discovered about yourself lately?? What struggles do you face?
