I am not an artist, but I do like to make art. There is something inherently soothing about putting colors together to form something; a picture, a design, whatever moves me at the moment. I don’t think I’ve very good at it, I’ve never taken an art class, and have no idea how to shade or shadow, but it is a type of release and I use it to relax and recharge.

In my day to day, I generally color. Usually I’ll use colored pencils, or gel pens, sometimes crayons, or even the Happy Color app on my phone. I like fun pictures and abstract designs and can get lost for hours in the process of making the picture come to life.

When I’m really feeling introspective, however, I have found that acrylics on canvas are the way to go. It always starts with a background color and then evolves from there… sometimes into a simple object like a flower or tree, other times into a splash and swirl of colors with no real meaning.

When I create, I rarely share it. This is usually a process set a side just for me. But lately I’ve started doing some painting with the people I work with (who are all amazingly creative), so have let others see some of my work. I even have a painting of a flower hanging in the kitchen at work.

I’ll never have artwork featured in a museum or sold in a gallery, but that’s ok. For me, making art is a way to release feelings on canvas… sometimes those feelings aren’t pretty or fit to be shared with others. Sometimes they are.