In 2013, Jay, a Houston graphic designer/artist and his sister, Sharon, had the ordeal of moving their Dad into long term care for his declining mental state. Having been through the pain of their Dad’s decline for a year and half, Jay experienced a heavy depression. He intuitively knew that he had to take care of himself using his main passion in life, his art. One drawing posted to social media drew a unbelievably strong positive reaction that lifted his entire being. The wonderful comme...
In 2013, Jay, a Houston graphic designer/artist and his sister, Sharon, had the ordeal of moving their Dad into long term care for his declining mental state. Having been through the pain of their Dad’s decline for a year and half, Jay experienced a heavy depression. He intuitively knew that he had to take care of himself using his main passion in life, his art. One drawing posted to social media drew a unbelievably strong positive reaction that lifted his entire being. The wonderful comments came as a complete surprise and made something positive in his life after the pain of his Dad’s illness.
Jay observed that “I had made something positive from the problems we were facing in life. And having done it on an iPad it allowed me to work quickly and change things easily. I had no stomach for the mess and clean-up of real paint. I decided, for the good of my soul, to make one digital portrait every day for a year and I made that vow in public to my support group. It was a bigger challenge than I had anticipated. As I developed technical skill, the images became more complex. I wanted them all to be fresh, never a repeat or be similar to the day before, but not so different that they didn't belong in the group as a whole. I wanted my friends to look forward to the drawings and to be surprised by them. I also wanted to grow as much as possible artistically. Within the series I found myself following several tracks simultaneously, as I have always needed to do in painting to keep it interesting for myself. At one point, close to Christmas, I thought I had no more to give, and wanted to take a break. I almost did. But I had come so far that I pushed through that and experienced no more occurrences of mental fatigue. I worked through physical fatigue many times. Some nights I was far too tired to be working, and regret a few of the choices I made in the images I produced. But more importantly, I found happiness every time I made a drawing I liked, and I did not publish anything that I did not like. That little bit of joy I felt from making the first portrait was just as strong in most of my subsequent drawings. Sometimes it was a struggle to make something good enough to post, but later I noticed that the drawings that gave me the most trouble turned out to be the strongest pieces in the series. In hindsight I see the series as one of the best things I've done for myself. Having to perform any difficult task day after day without breaks isn't something I could recommend to anyone, but it was the perfect challenge for me to have for healing during an extremely difficult period.”
The portraits viewed as a whole show the ups and downs of life we each experience. Some days are light and colorful and some down and dark. Viewed as a whole they become a kaleidoscope of an entire year in the life of Jay. All of the prints are 8x10 and purchased prints may be taken the night of the opening and make great Holiday gifts.
