This is where my journey has led me today with the art below from adapting, learning and finding new ways of methods that work for me I’m still to this day tinkering making sure art in later years is still accessible to carry on what I love and believe in. It’s a universal language to bring joy….. hope you enjoy my journey (please start from the bottom of the page) P.S. thanks to peter who designed this website so I can share my story and who also made the newer stencil umbrella couple shown below.
Their are endless methods of designs even with the same colors, that’s why I love paint pouring as I was unable to create images, such as the stencil by hand or other images the paint design spoke for itself with the different methods used. Even by just using a hairdryer for a second coating shown above.
When my methods repeated itself what I experience with pastels, I was very upset angry confused. I then wanted to strip my methods all back start fresh which has put me on the path today. I thought simple is better so kept the paint pouring, sometimes I stuck fake flowers but instead of images, I go with stencils. The umbrella couple was the image that I picked as it is a symbol of union of love, security, joy and I personally dedicate it every time I paint it to my loving wife, who stuck by me in the most darkest of times. I cut out my first ever stencil from an ice cream lid as times were hard (shown above).
{ shown below } At the beginning of my journey, adapting from the use of pencil to pastels and painting with a makeup blender brush, made me able to recreate portraits and creative ideas on black cardboard. I found portraits easier by smudging pastels and carrying on with creativity as normal with frequent breaks, unaware that this was causing even more strain on my vision in the long run, feeling incredibly fatigued near the end of this method (as shown above was my new burst of art method, a crossover of paint pouring and still creating images on top once dried. I was still trying to find my identity with art and a method that doesn’t require much effort visually).
It all started with just one art piece after being registered with a uncurable eye condition, Retinitis Pigmentosa, that slowly deteriorates the cells in the retina that allows light to enter in the eye. I was born with this condition and have no family relatives who are experiencing this, as it is genetic mutation. I was registered blind at 30 after many accidents leading up to it at work and home life, the condition was making itself known and was on the more severe stages. Having to give up my career was the hardest step. Being keen into my art with pencil drawings of faces, this method caused so much pressure to focus. I remember throwing my pencil in frustration, luckily my wife could see how distressed I was and gave me a canvas and pastels and said to sit on the balcony. I was reluctant at first but I was able to create this which sparked everything.