Artist Statement
I have read about artists who use art as a means of self-therapy. Some talk about how creating something new brought them to better places or offered them a means of escape from feelings they could not deal with alone. I was once told that just getting your hands into your supplies is sometimes therapy enough. I find it can be difficult to find ways to vent or release, however starting on a piece is an easy way to begin to process and deal with many situations. The best feeling is when everything else fades away except what I am working on, getting lost in brushstrokes, carvings or bends of metal. After a while I know I have to leave the work behind and come back to reality, but I feel better, like I can take a moment to breathe and refocus. It is not just losing myself to each piece that I enjoy, I like trying to solve the problems each new work brings me as well. Being able to work out tangible problems helps reassert my confidence when thinking about things beyond my control. I understand the feeling of escape I have read about, to have a time where nothing but the work in front of me has meaning, and to come back and feel like I am in a better place.
