My Addiction and the Gallery Opening

The blue image above is a photo of a very new piece entitle, "Unpredictable" and the one below it is called, "Whirlwind." I created both of these resin pieces within the last year. In fact, April will mark one year that I started working in this medium. When a friend and colleague suggested that I experiment with it, I did, and I fell in love.

I have expressed my pain and sorrow, joy and delight through some form of art for all my life. It started when I started playing piano at 5. It was my absolute refuge. I had 88 best friends for most of my life. Eighty eight, meaning those black and white keys that gave me a place to explore and create and bang and make sweet melodies. At 40, I started studying photography and that took me on a whole new trip, literally! It influenced me to see things I would not have seen in the lens and also encouraged me to travel so I could see new places, landscapes and people.

Again, the camera was my best friend when I traveled. I've spent a large part of my alone and for a lot of that time I felt quite lonely...except when I was playing music, or photographing. Having my camera by my side as I traveled was so comforting to me... as if to say to my camera at time, 'Hey, did you see that?" and then I'd get to document it.

At 59, I began working with resin and aluminum and acrylic paint. After a year or two of painting canvases with paint and motorcycle tires, I felt like I was introduced to a whole new world of creativity and a way to journal my experience of life.

I still get lonely, but hardly as much as before and the irony is that I like to be alone now. Alone in my studio, as I was always most comfortable writing songs, alone at the piano.

It brings me great joy to have the opportunity to be represented by the Brittany Davis Gallery now. (@brittanydavisgallery) And the opening for her very new gallery in Ojai is this Saturday night and I consider myself extremely fortunate to have my work as part of the collection of artists that will be there.

My drug of choice has always been art. When I wanted to scream, I'd play intensely on the piano or go photograph something beautiful, or now, go into myself studio and take it out on the aluminum with deep colors and hues until I find the light and see the light... and I always see the light. Making this or any kind of artistic work is my anchor to sanity, truly.

For those of you who think 'it's too late" it's not. I want to encourage and inspire you to start something new, or to keep going, believe in yourself and create anything you want.

Make it all count until the very last minute because we never know when that will be.