True North - I hope this finds you on a similar journey...I do hate to travel alone. xo

I'm just going to close my eyes and let it all come out. 

I'm 25, packing my car to drive across the country to an unknown. 

California.

The only thing I knew back then was that it was where the art world was....it was where my heart strings (sinew, fiber, heart) pulled me. 

I was successful there. I was in love. I got married. I was happy.

I suppose it didn't really matter to me so much that I wasn't making art. 

Fast forward to a few years later and I'm suddenly in New Jersey, failing, unsuccessful and unhappy. 

Depression introduced itself into my life for the first time. I spiraled out of control. 

Drug addict, psych ward, rehab, reckless, divorced, unhappy, sad, lost, lonely. 

I started making art. 

I've spent years pulling myself out of that black hole; but it was in the black hole that I found myself. 

It's funny how the two worlds collide and where you end up...

Asheville:

Happy, successful, grounded, healthy, open, kind, strong, independent, still a little lost, still a little lonely. 

Making art. It's been 6 years. 

Here I am in the throws of creating my first collection of Map Artworks for Asheville. This is why I came here. 

I work with maps because I relate to the lines that intersect, cross over and pull us in different directions. My own life has that grid. This body of work needs to tell that story. I-40, I just turned 40 - it's the hardest number I find myself having to write. It has it's own map, it's own direction, it's own compass rose. True North. 

True North - intuition. The direction your intuition pulls you is your True North.

I have worked really hard to get to this place where the art, the intent, the intuition and the act of creating are all connected. A 4 way stop where everyone smiles and waves at each other. I am so grateful for the highways and byways, the pit stops and the pot holes that have gotten me here to this amazing mountain. To this body of work; however it may unfold in front of me. I surrendered into the darkness to finally see the light. 

I hope this finds you on a similar journey...I do hate to travel alone. xo