I’m not sure when exactly I started keeping journals/diaries but I’m sure I was quite young. I think it began as a way to privately express myself and cope with maturing into adolescence. When you are so young it is hard, if not impossible, to have anything in your life that is not common knowledge to your family. I enjoyed having a sanctuary where I could unload ideas, voice dreams, and ask unanswered questions.

When I started art classes and keeping sketchbooks, this process of jotting down ideas and documenting daily life continued to be a common practice and ultimately a habit. I wanted to create art that said something, and more importantly, that said something that I personally wanted to share. It is a burden to be timid and shy. You miss out on a lot of opportunities to reveal what you are really thinking and, by default, giving a sense of purpose and weight to your person.

I think that is why I am so drawn to art. Because my work becomes my voice. I feel artists should make it a practice to write in tandem with creating. Once words are on the page they become real and it makes it that much easier to turn those thoughts into visual creation. One’s art should be a representation of who they are. Your words become a pathway to discovering just who exactly that is.