Pivotal event 16

A blank page, a fresh start.

2019 was a remarkable end of a chapter for me professionally. That year included my first solo overseas exhibition in Basel, mentoring and teaching locally and abroad, record sales, and the ability to hire amazing people and begin to build a team. I had “arrived”. As I turned the corner into 2020 I felt that I was not only turning a page but a whole chapter, and perhaps even starting a new book. Who would I like to be? Where would I like to go professionally? When I opened the book to begin however, there was silence. There was no spur to creativity, there were no new series or ideas bubbling up. There was just silence.

My normal go-to tactic when I hit a dry spell is to just keep painting until inspiration strikes. But this flat silence lasted for a long time and it seemed that no amount of painting would make it lively. However, during this time I slowly remembered and recovered other parts of myself. That is the key I’d like to share with you. I didn’t find my way back to painting through more painting but by remembering other parts of myself. I love to read, I love music and going to concerts, I love to cook, I love to gather and host people. I love being out in the snow. Exploring all those roads eventually, slowly brought me back to painting and brought along so many more visual avenues to express myself. I became a better painter through not painting. An added gift: The silence also illuminated that the very base of my reason for painting is the act of connection and gathering, and that I would like to do more of that. Way more of that. That desire has set the tone and direction for years to come.