I am an artist, I determined as I sat there in the hospital doodling. The decision was made then and there. I am an artist.
Little did I know at the time how much that decision would shape my journey. Would help me get through life’s journey.
Around this time, I made a piece called, “Experience Non-Quantifiable,” which was a poster board filled with of tiny minutia of doodles made with a black Bic ballpoint pen. I made it just for myself. I needed to make it. I carried that poster board around with me wherever I went and doodled for three weeks. It was excruciating. It was time consuming. My hand ached. But I was so proud when I finished it that I took it to a frame shop. (This piece, like so many others, ended up at a thrift shop. Every once in a while, I would donate all my framed art. I wanted it out there in the world. I wanted to share it.)
Then I started using different art supplies that cost a little more money—supplies that would improve the quality and durbility like acid-free archival textured paper and Micron pens in seven or eight colors. The first of this kind was called, “Anguish Quantified” and won second place in an art contest. I framed this one as well. I learned a lot at this frame shop, of which I became a regular customer: about the different types of glass to choose; that art galleries preferred black and white matting and framing; that the width and thickness of the matting can enhance the art; that framing, in and of itself, is an art form; and about the patience it takes to wait weeks for the framing to be completed.
The doodling, though an important step in my journey, became burdensome—and painful. And with each piece taking weeks or months to finish, it was no longer enjoyable. I was already computer savvy and decided to start making digital art. The cost and the time it took to make a piece of art was considerably less. And it was during this time I determined art didn’t have to be torture to be fulfilling. But I had to find a place to publish the art. Had to find a community to be a part of.
After researching, I decided that Deviant Art was the place to publish, mostly because of its popularity and the fact I could upload art of up to sixty or seventy megabytes. Back then, this was rare. One of my goals became maxing out the size of my art so I wasted no space with each upload. My art was made of pixels, not vectors, so I needed to design the art as large as possible digitally so that if printed in large format, the quality would not be diminished. This logic ended up shaping the kind of art I made. I leaned into geometric, pattern, and abstract art. Using repeated iterations of these methods led to fractalized art. Playing with colors and shapes and section isolation generated endless variations of patterns.
I was developing methods that were my own. These methods, my unique thumbprint in the art, would evolve and morph over time. They are still evolving today, and will continue to evolve. Art has always been a form of therapy for me, and the evolution of the work is part of that therapy. Experimentation leads to a foundation. Foundation leads to a new process, which eventually leads to a finalized style that’s all my own. And along the way, I get to share my art online, print it, etc. And that’s the fun of it. It’s a fun, enjoyable, and all-around awesome process.
