Looking in the mirror as I age I think back to a time when I was young and looking for direction. In those days art didn’t seem a possibility. I had an urge to travel so all my time was spent working to earn money for international adventures. I toured Ireland with distant relatives who introduced me to my ancestoral past. This journey led me to Europe where I discovered something that had been long missing in my life – culture! I soaked up the visual feast of architecture and art. I roamed galleries and cathedrals for hours on end, bathing in the creativity.

I remember standing a foot away from Michelangelo’s ‘David’ and looking up at this incredible sculpture in complete awe. A local man told me to stand further away to take in the whole visual so I could see the perfect perspective the artist had given the statue. He also told me that Michelangelo had created ‘David’ to help the people of Florence to overcome troubled times. This young biblical hero demonstrated the belief that inner spiritual strength can prove to be more effective than arms. I had just been given my first art lesson!

These memories and images were powerful and they had planted a seed in my psyche allowing me to imagine the power of my own creativity. The seed took a long time to germinate, maybe because of family and societal conditioning, lack of knowledge and confidence, but it was certainly there, waiting to be expressed. After years of pursuing other interests and searching for meaning in my life I got a little wiser and grew more confident and the urge to create finally came into being and I found myself painting and drawing constantly. To me a self-portrait is a way of looking into my soul, a tearing back of the layers of time. It’s about capturing a feeling of the essence of who I am rather than the roles I’ve played.

  Self Portrait - The Mirror - 75 x 85cm oil on canvas  Home