faith

I haven't always been creative.  I remember, as a child, noticing most of my family members were either artistically inclined, musicians, or both.  I wondered why I wasn't.

   When I was in my early twenties I found myself under a great deal of stress and was living a very destructive lifestyle.  I had gone through being a teen mother, domestic violence, homelessness, poverty and substance abuse.  I began drinking heavily, as a means to escape the pain I was in, to the point of blacking out and having severe hangovers.  At that time in my life I was living in a homeless shelter with my 3 and 4 year old.  During the day I would hang out at my mother’s house, which was a few blocks away.  She was into making beaded jewelry then and one day I decided to try it.  I was hooked, and I was actually good at it.  After that I experimented with many different artistic mediums including: sculpting, sewing, painting and gardening.  Everything I tried I was good at.  I had finally discovered I was creative too.

   Creating, was for me, a rope I used to pull myself out of the hole I was in.  It also led me to begin a discovery into myself.  I became more spiritual.  Around that time I discovered Islam and became a Muslim.  That was 9 years ago.

   About 3 years ago I found myself, once again, in a hole.  I was extremely depressed.   I wasn't happy with my life and had gone through some devastating circumstances.  Even though I was so overwhelmed with sadness and grief it didn't diminish my desire and need to create.  Actually, I think it made the need greater.

   I had taken an interest to art quilts.  I had checked out a few books from the library about them, but couldn't quite get into creating one.  It seemed too complicated.  I was discussing this with my mother and wondered if I could get the same effect somehow with paper.  She explained to me about collage art.  At that time the only collages I was familiar with were the ones kids made in grade school.  Needless to say, I began experimenting with this new found artistic technique.  It was exactly what I needed at that time in my life.  Once again my artistic energy kicked in like adrenaline.

   Money, in those days, was scarce so I had to be resourceful when gathering the supplies needed to create my collages.  I used cardboard (usually found in dumpsters) as my canvas.  I used brown paper bags and computer paper, which I would paint using different techniques.  I also used tissue paper and pages from books.  My recent pieces are done mostly on canvas.  I use handmade papers and specialty paper (scrap booking paper) .  I also use fabric paint (puffy paint).

   I now look forward to sharing my art with the world.  I also look forward to the growth of my artistic abilities and the deeper journey into self-discovery and the discovery of all that is around me that it helps me to achieve