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SPACE: An Art Blog Post

Lockdown: March 2020. Not only did the beautiful Island that I finally came home to after being away for 8 years shut down, but so did I.


As an artist I need to live in order to create; I need experiences in order to create; to be around others in order to create; FEEL in order to create, ( I think you get it).


At that moment, during that time, I let it be taken away from me; I let the state of the Planet take over me. Maybe others felt this way too.


For that year, I let Covid take over my space, my life and my SELF. I let it consume me, I let myself feel so empty though I was surrounded by my family, pets and sustenance. But so much emptiness. If only I could pull myself up to being grateful--for anything. I had no creativity in me. I came to a breaking point and I knew I had to change something, like an addict hitting bottom. I thought I had better find SOMETHING to be grateful for, something to “like” about this shit show.


So I did!



I started with a mantra “Look around and see what you can be grateful for”. I became grateful for the family I could see, but not touch, but they were there. I became grateful for this beautiful Island that I got to play on with all my “free time” -- beaches, lakes, rivers, and forests galore! I became grateful that I had food on the table. I became grateful for my health, family's health and friends' health.


Ok, I am grateful--so what was missing?


Well, I got my shit together and JUST started painting!! I have painted and created more in the last year than I had in a long time. I am not “serious” about it, yet I am taking myself more seriously as an artist. I now know that “I”, my being as an artist, is VITAL to the crazy shit show! So it’s kind of serious--IT’S NEEDED! I get to create beauty for myself and others. I get to inject beauty, emotion and experiences into this mess, because there is so much beauty left and MORE to come. I can brighten a day; I can entice an emotion dormant by loss, fear or overwhelm and turn it around. I am just flowing like crazy! I always have a painting on the go and another wrapping up. It is very freeing and I am not letting anything or anyone stop me again...ESPECIALLY ME!!


In conclusion, and I must stress, it was ultimately ME stopping me. When I spotted that I allowed outside factors to sway me, when I saw that I allowed my position as an artist to waive, then I could see it is up-to-me, no matter what is challenging me to create.


I AM THE RULER OF MY SPACE!! MY SPACE!



- Jessica Chadwick



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