* Drawing From Experience

I am an art school graduate from The Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design in Vancouver. However, I never drew much when I was there. It was only long after graduating with honors in Photography (odd?) that I went back to the thrill of having a pencil in my hand. The drawings shown here are some of the many whimsical illustrations I have done over the years. You can click on any image to enlarge it.


















Although I really do love drawing, I don't do it much right now. There are so many ways I love to express myself, and each mode seems to represent a different aspect of my psyche and a different chapter of my life.





















Still, a really love that certain kind of deep silliness that seems to come out when I am home alone with a drawing tool in my hand.

Drawings like these can be like cartoons without captions; a summation of state of mind; an experience; an attempt try to understand the psychology, underlying pattern or outright absurdity of something--via the visual.






















Until now, I never had any urge to display these drawings to others, as drawing is a lot like journaling to me. It's just another way to express my unconscious mind's ongoing inner dialogue; a way to externalize the internal.




















However, once I began to understand that there was a secret language going on between me, the pen and the paper, I wanted to know more. Much like lucid dreaming, I began watching myself and asking myself, what is compelling me to draw this? Who are these figures? What are they doing? Where are they going? What are they feeling? What hidden part of me is coming out here? What would happen next in the picture if I kept drawing? What is my art trying to tell me about my current or past experiences?















I discovered the trick was to let my unconscious speak freely, meaning, I just let myself draw spontaneously and then I would ask myself questions later. It's really important to ask the questions. If you don't, you are only half way there. Keep going!





















Funnily enough, many artists have no idea what is compelling them to create what they are creating on an emotional level. Which is fine (we often don't know!) but that doesn't mean we shouldn't ask.

When asked, many artists can come up with academic, intellectual, historical or cultural contexts to justify the images they are producing, but they often miss the core reason their souls are trying to get their attention. They miss out completely on the more personal and intimate conversations their work is begging them to have.

However, when we allow ourselves to make art just for our own expression (like journaling) and then reflect on that, it encourages us to face our feelings and take responsibility for our perspective, and this is what ultimately makes us grow as human beings. The best part is that our art will naturally take us there (if we let it) all we have to do is follow.

This whole process is what ultimately propelled me to study Art Therapy and to eventually become a Registered Art Therapist and Creativity Coach (see The Mobile Muse post at the beginning).
















To see a few more of my drawings please visit Clean Sheets Magazine

To see some of my paintings, go to the Face It post on this site.