Art has always been a prominent aspect in my life and I have always valued it in its entirety. To me art is about expression. It is an outlet to illustrate and display my thoughts, ideas and beliefs. Throughout years of experience and maturity, art has become more than just its visual aspect, it has become multi-dimensional. Regardless of the complexity, art holds meaning; there is a reason that the piece has a certain colour scheme, content matter, text element, contrast aspect, and so on. All endeavours have purpose, but sometimes these are insignificant to the viewer and more important to me, the artist. This is my novelty, thus not all my work has complex meaning. Certain pieces are simply personal and allow insight into my life, whereas others are more intricate and require analytical interpretation. Ultimately, I create art to express myself and not all aspects of my life are impenetrable.
Creativity is the drive behind my work. This is because creativity and expression go hand in hand- creativity is a means of expression. I am inspired by the world in which I live. I use social media outlets, such as Tumblr, Pinterest and various DIY and artist’s blogs, as a method of discovery. I find various photos and gifs that prompt ideas and inspire my style. Further to that, my desire and longing to travel really inspires me. I want to one day see the world and experience foreign cultures and traditions- especially European. Currently, I live this dream through photos, videos and other online opportunities. Vintage is very trendy in society right now. It is a look that I really like and tend to incorporate into my art. I have a fascination with all things old and vintage. My artistic style has developed this look and is pretty consistent in all my work. I use various techniques to prevail the vintage theme. In terms of content, I use vintage apparel, old frames, and aged settings. It is in the process of computer creativity that I incorporate aspects such as desaturation, sepia filters, additional lines, scratches, and blotches in Photoshop to further the vintage look. I really enjoy the creative options in Adobe Photoshop (and Illustrator) that allow me to discover and further create a piece the way I really want it. Canvases (traditional and wood) are my favourite material to use because you can do so many unique things. I love gel transfers: making a piece on Photoshop and then transferring onto a canvas and resultantly getting a hybrid piece. Really my creative process varies from piece to piece because the meaning of each piece really dictates the execution. I believe that using different methods, materials, and mediums represents creativity in a sense because I am using variety. Creativity knows no boundaries or limits.
My most recent work, “The Three Habits”, was a piece that really demonstrated my creative variety. It was a gel transfer on canvas that included photography and tedious painting. This piece shows my photography abilities along with my approach to combining a variety of mediums into one piece. It was a challenging piece because it had various aspects in the creative process that had to seamlessly create the final product. Also, it has a complex underlying meaning that I had to discreetly represent to engage the viewer. It was the first time I used interactivity to do so. The piece is relevant to my style with its desaturated characteristic. Also the newspaper background helps to add to this naturally. I really appreciate this piece for its underlying message of self-improvement. The quotes incorporated are the words of Stephen Covey, a man that has influenced my father’s teachings and consequently mine. This piece presented the opportunity to display the teachings that have shaped my life through a creative means. I love that this piece radiates a positive message that speaks directly to the viewer. In my opinion, art should be only a positive experience because it is so influential.
Capturing Creativity 