Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Finding Yourself In The Paint

Have you ever struggled to find yourself? Like to feel confident in your decisions about life? Not that you aren't happy, but just feeling a little awkward teenager-ish??

I was just walking through that stage. I was feelin real awkward, like one day I was a prep, the next day I was country, next day I was goth. Ya know one of those girls that tries out a million different styles because she can't quite figure out where she fits in. Except I wasn't doing it with clothes. I was struggling to find how to express myself through art.


As I have said here MANY many times, I am extremely blessed to have a creative family, my grandmother paints, my aunt is an artist, my mom and other aunt can make junk from the side of the road look like a million bucks. Basically, I was born to be creative. So I tried out a lot. I tried painting furniture, making furniture, water color, acrylic, oil and on and on. I liked them all. I just didn't feel like I was expressing "ME".

Art is a form of expression. Just like some people express themselves through music, writing or speaking. Creating is a gift from God that allows you to express yourself and your story in a unique way, and I don't want to waist that! I want to find how to express myself and my God story through creating. Gah it was such a struggle. Was I doing certain things because I saw other artists be successful with them, or was I doing that because that truly felt natural to me? Did I feel like it was MY story or was I just trying to tell a story someone was interested in...

STRUGGLE BUS!


After talking to an artist I have learned to really love and admired, she told me to put challenges in place. Put restrictions on my paintings. It could be certain sizes, or colors, but these restrictions would allow me to see similarities that are unique to me that I may have missed in the chaos of creating. And ya know, what I did.


I found that I love vibrant colors, buttery strokes, and southern subject matter. When I stepped back and saw how all of these things ran through each piece I created I realized I truly did find myself in the paint!

(find these paintings and more on my website www.gracelangdonart.com)
 photo gracie-sig_zps2d86285f.jpg

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