What Art Comes From Abuse?

Many of you know that I am an artist. I try to make my art show the world in a nice way, the way I want it to be, not the way that it is. Perhaps this is a lie, a huge fraud. My goal is to change as much of the ugliness of the real world as I possibly can. To show that a person can come from ugliness and horror to view the world in a positive way and bring change in small ways. If we all do this, these small amounts of change will amount to immense change.

If I paint the bleak, desperate, ugliness of my childhood, I allow the abusers to win. I choose to take that power from them and be happy and spread happiness in spite of what they did to me. Perhaps this will torture them, knowing that despite their best efforts to kill my spirit and control me, I have risen above them and now hold the power.

As a child, I read a lot. I learned that there were families who were happy and loving and this knowledge saved me. I knew that if I could survive I would find happiness. I had my imagination and I lived in a little perfect world inside my own thoughts. All those hours locked in my room with the covers pulled over my face were spent in this imaginary world, not the world of fear that the abusers wanted me to be in.

So, my paintings reflect the imaginary world, the world of peaceful streams and meadows; the beauty of nature; and the absence of abuse. Its what you don't see in my paintings that tells the story. If you are interested in seeing the art I create, drop by The Creaky Easel for a visit.