Speed the Heart. Calm the Mind.

Sometimes when I just don’t feel like myself, I make a little extra time to be in the studio. Don’t misunderstand, making time is a challenge and being here just isn’t. This is the place that I feel best, the place I feel like I will at least find my favorite self.

On days I need the extra moments here, productivity isn’t the goal. Paint is. The action of painting is cathartic. The slide of the brush through the thick liquid as it transforms the canvas, and me, cannot be matched by any other action or feeling. Often times, I wonder if my soul is actually made of paint or if it is just consumed by it. Painting is a transformation waiting to happen.

For me, the next closest action to painting is hiking. It is a whole body experience that speeds the heart and calms the mind, making me work better as a human. I actually find it exciting that hiking is a thing I enjoy. Having spent years in a body brace, I started walking much later than the average kid. As a youngster, I was told that impact sports, most sports actually, were not an option.

As I have matured, I have cast off a lot of what I was told about how things should be. This has given me the opportunity to see my systems, actions, and environment in a new light. Hiking and painting are avenues for this improvement. Each have shown me ways to accept conventions that work well for me while I develop ways to engage less common methods as positive additions to my process.

The paintings in my current series in the works are the melding of two passions: painting and hiking. These passions are defining a path that is exciting and engaging, at the same time, grounded.