About
Me
Gastroparesis Info
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"Monkey Girl"
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"The Fight for
My Life"
As a young artist, I have gone through a number of different phases in
my life, emotionally, physically, and spiritually, to reach the point
that I am at now. I have
overcome incredible obstacles that very few people can even imagine
trying to overcome. I have
been through severe depression, anger, and denial as result of my health
problems before finally reaching the point of acceptance.
I have stared death in the face numerous times and experienced
sickness and pain that very few can even fathom.
I have felt a sense of hopelessness and despair as doctors have
told me that there is nothing they can do.
I have felt out of control as I have watched some of my best
friends, who are battling with some of the same problems, start losing
the battle. My fear at
times is beyond description. I
do not know what the future holds and have spent nights shaking until my
body is completely exhausted. These
experiences are often apparent in the work I do and I use art as a way
to express some of my fears and reach out to others who may be suffering
from a variety of problems.
Before I reached the point of acceptance, my artwork suffered. I was terribly depressed and could not concentrate on my
work. I had shut God out of
my life and was trying to handle everything on my own.
This depression and anger led me to create distorted images, a
common problem associated with depression and physical suffering.
I had trouble inventing new ideas and I was not sure that I would
survive as an artist. Three
years after my initial diagnosis of gastroparesis, I realized what I was
up against physically and that I could not handle this all alone.
Finally, I let God have control of my life and immediately my
artwork began to thrive. New
ideas arose within me and I ventured out into areas of art that I had
not previously explored.
Eventually, I discovered a way to use art as a healing process.
I began creating images which depicted my encounters with death. One of my strongest images portrays a skeleton looking into a
mirror and seeing an image of me in the reflection. The hand of the skeleton meets the hand of my reflected image
as they look at each other. The
image is a description of my life from day to day and is difficult for
most people to observe. My
encounters are summed up quite well in this one piece.
It is a description of how I realize the mortality of my life and
have come face to face with my death.
An underlying idea in this piece includes my realization that
this life will end and I will ultimately go back into the ground and
become only a skeleton. Although
the soul will live on, the physical body will die and I will only leave
a legacy behind on this earth. Thus,
it is important for me to live my life according to God’s purpose so
that I will leave behind a good legacy and one that will be an
encouragement to others who may be suffering.
My desire is to leave a legacy that will be an inspiration to
young people battling a variety of physical problems.
I would like for them to see the fight in me and refuse to let
their physical problems have complete control of their lives.
My goal is to encourage suffering young people never to give up
on the opportunities in this life until death arrives.
My Artwork
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"Art as a
Healing Process in My Life 3"