My paper journey

 Sometimes it is good to reflect on where you’ve come from and who and what has shaped you. A new year, a new start is usually what we say at this time of year, but to be honest I am struggling to find something new in me at the moment. As a result I thought I’d look back at past pieces to see if I could learn from them and where better to start, but at the beginning. 

This is one of my first collage pictures - the start of my artistic journey in paper. What struck me most about it is it’s simplicity the lack of detail or layers of paper compared to how my work is today. At first I envied how uncomplicated and fresh it was, as I often feel my work today gets too fiddly and I get bogged down in the detail. This piece seemed to me as free as the bird in it and full of youthful carefreeness. 

Then I remembered the journey, the indelible mark others and situations make on your life whether you want them to or not. That complex web that becomes your life and those that are there to catch you when you fall and those that for whatever reason fall through the cracks. They’re all subconsciously with you influencing how you see this complex world and that comes out in your art whether you mean it too or not. I couldn’t recreate this picture if I tried because it comes from a time that I no longer inhabit and was made by the hands of someone I no longer am. 

My work might have the tendency to get too fussy, but that is due to the wealth of experiences that I must now select from - a paper tapestry if you will of my life and influences. I weave my cares and my worries into my work and they transform before me into something magical and beautiful and I wouldn’t have it any other way.