I believe art can bring restoration, cultivate connection, and influence the spirit of the times, through the Spirit within us.
Nearly my whole life, art has been a way I process my griefs, chronic pain, and all the suffering that is too deep for words. However, sometime in my teens art became more about perfection than expression, except in my art journals where I’d worship while I expressed my pain in mixed media. Eventually around the age of 20 in 2020, I asked God to teach me how He wants me to paint and my journey into abstract art unexpectedly began.
I would meet Him at the blank page and fearlessly draw and paint intuitively with no end goal in mind. I picked colors that I felt like God directed me to or that best described the feeling I had. I started with no preconceived idea of what I was painting and no vision for the end goal except sometimes color and a vague sense of movement. As I talked to God while I painted my heart, I watched Him transform my pain and darkness and carry and heal the pain and burdens I was being crushed by. My fear and perfectionism began to grow into joy and freedom
By His grace, in the midst of chronic pain and illness, I graduated with my A.A. from St. Petersburg College in 2018, and from Southeastern University with a Bachelor of Art in Visual Arts and a minor in Psychology at the end of 2023. During my undergrad, I completed my first series of abstract paintings titled, “Deep Calls to Deep,” and exhibited my work in the gallery for my senior art show. God did more than I could’ve ever asked, dreamed, or imagined in every way through that season.
Since graduation, I’ve continued to paint, write, and start my business, “Live Created, LLC.” I’m continuing to learn what it means to follow Jesus wholeheartedly and authentically while facing suffering. He’s The Prince of Peace and also The Man Well Acquainted with Grief, and it’s my hope that my art and words will reveal more of the heart of the Artist.
