ORIGINAL COPY POSTED ON INSTAGRAM DURING THE CHALLENGE
Before I was an almost full-time painter, I was a writer. Before that, I was a sculptor. It’s was a part of my life I didn’t fully understand the unfolding of at the time, but now looking back, I see it as a period of emotional tuition for the creative soul. I was fortunate enough to learn an immense amount from Carrol Boyes herself during my years as a prototype restoration artist and designer with @carrolboyesofficial.
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One thing Carrol always said to me was to ‘have the courage of your convictions’. Those words have never left me. They’re now etched into the guide book of my heart. Alone they sit on a page that I turn to frequently when in doubt, only to realise there was no real doubt to begin with.
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Another fragment that never left me after I left CBFA was the desire to sculpt, to create dimension. I tried doing it as a writer too – always shaping a deeper narrative. And now – immersed fully in the world of paint, the little sculptor inside is knocking at the door again. In the last few weeks, I’ve found myself drawn to a sort of texture painting. Today it came out in the impasto petals of this aloe.
And it made me realise the versions of ourselves we were in our younger lives never truly leave. Instead, I think that’s our formative versions firing arrows way into our future to nudge us toward who we want to be at our deepest level.
So, they’re really more like boomerangs then hey?
I’d love to know if any part of your younger self is making a reappearance in what you do or want to do now with your life.
(artist retains all rights to print reproductions of this painting)
Inspiration image: artist’s own