Mindful Warrior Painting

I am an emerging nonrepresentational painter working in mixed media. I create visuals for those who want to go to a place of awareness, to feel spaciousness and connection within themselves and others. My work is a testimony to my hope in humanity, an act of optimism. The images that I produce are the outward manifestation of internal work, the work of facing and embracing my own shadows, resulting in expressions of lightness, empowerment, and authenticity. A tool that I use quite often to create these expressions is my gift of synesthesia; rhythms, beats, dreams, words, all come to me as colors, shapes, and textures. I use these patterns, the sounds of our society as well as my inner drummer, to tell our stories of myth and truth. I recognize the overwhelming darkness of our current world, and I aim to contribute thoughtful brilliance to create a more balanced existence. Of great interest to me recently are the psychological archetypes that were categorized by Carl Jung. An example is the Warrior archetype. This part of the mind kicks in (for male and female alike) when we need to set up boundaries with people or time, stay focused, be clear with intentions, etc. The intention of my work is to continue focusing on the archetypes of the mind and to create a variety of images relating to our psycho-emotional patterns. It is my opinion that when we can recognize the archetypes within our thoughts and actions, we can then empower ourselves and others to change for the better. Therefore, if my work can be of service to the local community and the greater public in this way, then I am serving my mission to bring awareness and connection to our times. My own journey is a tale of nonconformity sprouting from my parents' stories that they shared with me as a kid. Stories of their travels, the people they met, and the decisions they made. I needed to understand different cultures away from the mountains of North Carolina where I grew up. So from earning a degree in Mandarin Chinese to holding office jobs to embracing my synesthesia to doing the internal work of facing my personal shadows, I realized that my art was quietly evolving with me, refining itself into simpler yet bolder expressions. In my younger days I used to cathartically blow up on a canvas with no higher purpose. As I've grown I now rest in stillness, trust the visuals that come to me, and put them to a surface.