Wanna know how it all began?
I’ve been making art for years now, and back in the day I frequently changed styles and subject matters (although I always stuck to nature-based art). During that period of time I was searching for that unique style that would set me apart from other artists and feel like it was truly my own, but it was a struggle.
I painted bold acrylic trees with words or phrases on them, made pointilism trees, spent lots of time using acrylic paint but then switched to watercolors (best decision ever!!!!), and then stuck with painting brightly colored magical landscapes for quite a while. I also spent a chunk of time making textured abstract art, watercolor abstract art, and making pour paintings. Oh, and I also went through a phase where I painted florals and making repeating patterns for a while.
In the midst of all of that, I briefly played with collage, cutting out zillions of leaves or the branches of a tree with an x-acto knife, though eventually I moved onto the aforementioned watercolors (although seeing this photo makes me miss this phase of my art career! And wow, I didn’t have any grey hair back in 2018!).
Finally, on my birthday in late 2022, I was feeling lost and sat down to listen to an inspiring podcast, and within that recording, Kintsugi was mentioned. This is the Japanese art form where broken pottery is repaired using gold, highlighting the cracks and making the overall product stronger. The podcast mentioned something about cracks letting the light in and I was very suddenly struck with the idea that I wanted to tear painted watercolor paper, in my mind similar to breaking a piece of pottery, and I wanted to arrange and layer each piece in the way that struck the strongest chord in my soul.
I started right away, and the first piece I ever created still sits on the mantle in my living room.
I fall more and more in love with it every time I create a new piece: The way the layers create shadows, the way I feel like a sculptor, arranging and rearranging the layers and textures and colors until everything feels exactly right. It’s a true joy to create this way.
As I have experimented more with this style, I’ve realized it truly encompasses everything I want to make as an artist. I can be abstract, I can write uplifting words and phrases on some of the pieces of paper, I can add texture here and there, add lots of tiny details, and of course it incorporates the collage aspect of some of my earlier works. It’s like all of the parts of me together in one art form.
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