Could Have Been Painting

I can’t help but think of what could have been. We could have been great. We could have rewritten the stories our broken hearts held onto. We could have been the ones to make it. I wonder if he thinks of me as the one who got away. Is he the one who got away from me? To think of him as “getting away” means at some point he was mine to keep, but he never was. I will always think of him and what could have been. I will always wonder if he thinks of me. *This painting was inspired by the song Grow Old With Me by Tom Odell __________________ The Love Letters (To My Exes) collection is a cheeky exploration of “love” and dating from the artist’s perspective as a confident, intellectual woman in her mid-30s. The artist playfully reflects on past romantic encounters to examine which were ruled by the heart vs. the mind. The heart is the true centre of human intelligence, not the brain. The heart is all-knowing, in its intuitive ability to discern when to push or pull, expand or retract. The brain’s tendency to overthink and overanalyze is not a sign of intelligence, but an anxious attempt to intellectualize emotions in order to avoid actually feeling them. This playful collection explores the themes of identity, attachment, moments of clarity and cathexis that are prevalent in the search for love. The artist aspires to be vulnerable in exposing the various ways she has celebrated or abandoned parts of herSelf in her past relationships and encounters, and the feelings of triumph, shame, growth and sadness that have been part of her journey in dating. The short excerpts that inspired the works in this collection were taken from the artist’s personal journal and paintings were created with specific songs in mind.