To work on yourself knowing you are already whole is difficult. What blooms and helps you flourish as a result can bring you to a place where you can look at yourself with compassion and empowerment.
as an artist I manifest my emotions through my doodles. I was going through a rough spot with my mental health back in 2016. This doodle would always light me up. I hope it does the same for you
I made this as a reminder for myself. My past and my environment might hurt me, but inside I am safe, I am enough, I am okay, I am minee. I'm experiencing hard times with trauma and other stuff, so I needed a reminder for myself. This is on my door now. I covered up some personal details, the white blobs. March 2020. Pastel on paper.
This is a work I made as a reaction to a questionaire about suicide. I got over it, but I have been there, done that. Despair, the feeling of drowning, reaching out but never getting the help you need, deep dark depression, the grey-brown brainfog. Yet: there is some light, there always is, but I'm too scared to look at the light. I didn't varnish this pastel-drawing, just to accentuate the fragility of mental health. What you need to know it that I got out of this and so can you if you are this deep in trouble. I'm doing much better. January 2020, pastel on A3 paper.
Shadows follow but I will move on! I have PTSD, so I am tormented by my past. Anxious for what's behind me. But I won't let that stop me! I may have "Lead in my shoes" (Dutch "Lood in mijn schoenen"), sometimes feel empty while on other times I am red from anger, nothing will stop me moving on. There will be temporary throwbacks, progress is not linear, but I will get there. I won't drown in self-pity this time.
Wanhoop (Eng: despair) is a work I made last August/September. It's clay which was baked and afterwards painted with acryl and coated with some transparant nailpolish. To me it symbolises the depth of my depression. Despair.
A commissioned piece of original artwork for a client that I drew which incorporates various elements of strength (as chosen by the client). It also illustrates that even in dark times a light will come shining through.
