As I was cleaning out my flat files this week I came across a peculiar digital composite image that I had made and transferred on to a 5×7 piece of glass.
It was a still life I had done about 15 years ago during a stressful time when I had a life threatening health condition that required me to take pills and give my self shots multiple times a day. It made me feel fragile and made life seem precious.
I was angry at first but then a kind woman told me her story about having gone through the same thing years before. She called the whole experience a “bitter blessing” and talked about how she had become awakened to the reality of life and had never had a bad day since. Every day is a gift of life and an opportunity to share in the beauty and love of every moment.
I have tried to live my life with this philosophy in mind. Every day is a blessing and I am grateful to be here. To see this image again and to see how I had printed the image on a transparency material and then transferred it to the glass where it was wrinkled and creased which made the whole image look like a fractured mirror, reminded me of what a self portrait this was of me at that time. I am grateful that my art can allow me to transform my emotions into images and objects that allow me to look at myself and see beauty within even the most tragic of situations.
