Why am I an artist? Why do I paint?
Those are good questions. I feel like those questions are along the same lines as questions like “why do birds sing?” or “why does the wind blow?”.
Making art has always been a thing I did naturally. There’s this inner voice, this calling, this intuition, that has compelled me whenever I picked up a pencil, pen, or paintbrush. I scribbled like most children do. I doodled when I was bored as a teenager. I picked up coloured pencils and drew characters from cartoons and video games that I watched and played. When I discovered Photoshop, I felt excited to learn how to paint with pixels by reading tutorials that other artists made available online.
When I started my career in graphic design, I stopped drawing. I channeled a lot of my creativity into posters, business cards, logos, and other print and digital graphics for local companies for 20+ years. But as I made these designs, that nagging voice inside me never went away. It just got quiet, but it was still persistent. As the years rolled by, my job got less creative and more technical, and that voice got stronger and stronger.
During the pandemic, I dipped my toe into drawing again so I could express the feelings I couldn’t express with the written word. Sketches turned into completed drawings. Drawings turned into framed works of art. I learned how to paint in acrylic, then gouache, then I tried oil paints, and I learned mixed media. Then I discovered my voice and my process as an artist - something that felt truly like me, something that only I could create. To this day, I still start every painting with a sketch in coloured pencils to honour those early childhood drawings.
There is this creative energy coming from somewhere I can’t really explain, an external source of wonder and creativity. It flows through me as I am creating, and I channel it into a physical work of art. I work in collaboration with it, so I can’t take all of the credit. I feel the need to express myself, my thoughts, my feelings, my perspective. When I’m making art, I feel like I’m being exactly the person who I need to be. It’s just who I am. This is my reason and purpose in life. I also enjoy constantly improving myself and be the best that I can be.
I feel like I have something important to show others. I want others to connect with my art – to see and feel the things I am seeing and feeling. Though I am thrilled when others see and feel something else that even I didn’t expect! Creating makes me happy and gives me inner joy, confidence, and pride that I want to share with others.
So why am I an artist? Because I have no other choice - it’s just who I am.
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