About Me - Background
Artist in Progress
I’m a mixed media artist from London. I’ve loved drawing and painting since I was a kid, but I definitely took the scenic route to becoming an artist. I was born and raised in Archway, an area with community, diversity, history and architecture. Plus, the views of the city skyline at night are killer. Shame I didn’t appreciate it until I returned! It took 9 years in Cardiff and a wild (if fuzzy) ride, but now I'm back in London - I didn’t realise just how much I missed it!
The Bad Place
Almost since I can remember, I’ve struggled with self-doubt, depression and anxiety; I was petrified of other peoples’ opinions, and spent most of my 20’s trying to be liked by people, often failing dismally. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I let go of some of this fear – and not by choice! I got ill, and for a long time I only had enough energy to function. Other peoples’ opinions became irrelevant. It was hard to learn my limitations, and to continually feel like I was letting people down or being a bad friend. But it did help me to accept myself; good, bad and ugly. In hindsight, I don’t know why I’m like this – I’ve always had a loving family and caring, accepting friends. My friends and family are my happy place, and even the ones I’m out of contact with I cherish like they’re sat next to me. (Hope you all know this guys!)
Insides Outside
Credit for actually getting me back into art and setting me on the path to artist belongs to a wonderful doctor. He asked about old hobbies of mine; I’d almost forgotten I had any. When he heard I like art, he suggested that I try to capture the feeling of my symptoms in a piece (shown here). It was a revelation; I had a way to put my insides on the outside. Immediately I began creating and I’ve not stopped since! Putting my thoughts and feelings into words isn’t a strong suit of mine - instead of talking, I found other ways to express myself, for example with tattoos and personal style. Now I have art as well; it feels like a weight I wasn’t even aware of has been lifted from me. But I still fight self-doubt, so when I find inspiration, I don’t overthink and I run with it. Each idea grows organically and gets styled along the way. My art is a platform for me to express my feelings about the world and myself, and to pay homage to anything that interests or moves me. I hope I manage to make people smile.