It's fascinating how things you do to pass the time early on in life, the things you've just naturally been drawn to, can become practice for your life ahead without you even knowing it. I was born on the autism spectrum and my senses have been weirdly, wildly, and wonderfully askew since as long as I can remember. I have been drawing and sketching all my life, whether on scrap pieces of printer paper at home or doodling all over the math tests at school. Regardless of whether it was natural talent or passion driven practice, the language of drawing, with its symbols, its doodles, its techniques and eccentricities, was one I was determined to master and explore. I began painting in 2010 under the mentorship of Meredith Blackmore, just two months after turning 17 years old. My love of drawing had shed its skin and gave way for my desire for colour and texture, and so naturally I moved toward oil paintings. First working with canvas, I later shifted to thick, crisp wood panels. I experience art as a way of travel, moving my soul across distant galaxies, being enveloped and immersed in luminous nebulae. Feeling into the emotions of the living things surrounding me. For me, that open mind is key to understanding and painting such things. I'm always curious of the reactions people have of my work and the impact it has on them. Alongside Meredith and friends, I helped inspire and create STUDIOHERE, an art space in Fergus (Ontario, Canada) for artists to work and teach. Painting and drawing has also led to poetry and essay writing. It has become a way of life for me and something of a spiritual guide, and I greatly appreciate, from heart to heart, all the souls that I've met along the way. 7 |