Artist Statement Date Thursday, April 18, 2024 - 01:55 PM PST Topic Beauty Waking up to the same frozen room every day of the week is not easy to accomplish. While half of my mind may be guiding me through ritualistic early morning patterns, the rest of it depresses itself, knowing that the moon is still outside, waiting upon my exit of that little wooden door so far beneath it. My bus is cold. The train is cold. A certain longing to produce is the only warmth that these mornings have to offer. Through progressions of the hours, I can hear the moon and sun conspire. In this city I can never win. It’s the punch of Miami weather that can beat anyone into submission. Without my art I feel myself slowing down. My legs and arms weaken and my energy depletes. I fall more every minute that I spend awake in this town. Unfortunately my joy goes with everything else. My only break from this situation is to escape to art. Every moment awake is occupied by a dream of my canvas. Every moment asleep is occupied all the same. Desperately, my hands seek shelter in the fabric warmth of my pockets. My fingertips are surprised with their discovery, but welcome the bristles with a kiss. They progress past the neck and run down the lathed wooden shaft of my paintbrush. My thumb presses into the tip of a nearby pencil, causing my hand to close and smother the pair. As if by osmosis, I am revisited by the by all the magic that these tools have given me, and again I remember why I am awake. Art is my direction and my distraction. My selections have rested on these, exampling versatility and a peak of effort, in hopes that an audience will discover why it is that I wake up to such an ungodly mourning. But it’s only art. It’s only art. This article comes from Shmeng http://www.shmeng.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.shmeng.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=471