Have you heard of Myers Briggs?  It’s a personality test and I had the opportunity to complete the whole thing years ago as part of a professional development (pd) course whilst teaching.  Supposedly it was to help with staff relations?  Anyway, it was amusing because I continually scored either exactly in the middle of, or slightly to one side of the sliding scale of emotions/traits.   I remember at one point needing to choose between these 4 archetypes as we were trying to narrow down our own personality type.  I cant remember exactly what they were right now, but I was completely frustrated not being able to choose between two of them.  I think the lady who was running the PD had had enough of me and my inability to choose.  I asked for her help and  (after she huffed and puffed a bit) then proceeded to point out that I couldn’t possibly be both of these types as:  (pointing to image a)” if you were this type of person you’d most likely be in the military, very organized, likes regimentality, ordered, etc… And if you were this one, then you’d be more of the creative, the hippie type, free and wanting to travel the country in a Kombi with a paintbrush in your hand “  etc etc…At this point I should tell you, that at the point of taking that test I was a lieutenant in the Australian Army!  And as it’s turned out, I’m a a hippy wanderer, Kombi loving artist too  

So what’s the point you may be asking?  The point is, I am completely in love with patterns.  With creating patterns, digital, precise, ordered and lovely, and yet on the other hand, I just want to get wild and free and make some beautiful big abstract pieces as well.  I think that for a while now this has really been an issue for me.  Not consciously, but deeper down on some other unspoken-of level.  I haven’t really articulated it up until now, but I just felt like I had to be one style.  That a good artist, a respected artist had a definite style, a recognisable voice. 

And, that may well be true in some art circles.  But it has taken me 39 years to realise that this is me and be at peace with it.  The way I’m deciding to approach this revelation is to regard it as an asset rather than a problem or creative deficiency.  I’m going to see if this can work for me, rather than against… 

psssst – don’t tell anyone, but I think that I might just  fuse these two styles together in my next exhibition in June.   Even I don’t know what I’m likely to come up with next, but I know that I’m starting to feel more and more comfortable with the fact that I can actually be both things creatively and I don’t have to choose one pathway or the other.  *sigh* just saying that makes me feel so much better

 Here’s a little taste of my divided heart.  These are some of the paintings I’ve completed this year.  I just received a delivery of 40 canvases on friday so now I can go shopping in my garage and get all these ideas out of my head and breathe life into them!  So excited!

Waiting for the Perfect Moment 19 x 19″

It’s a Big World Baby…1m x 1m

Letter to Florence 1m x 1m

Rest a While 1m x 1m

Thanks for calling in, have a great week!

XDH