I’ve been creating art ever since I was old enough to hold a pencil. Mostly drawing and coloring. It never mattered to me that I couldn’t see a page the same as everybody else could. I found my own way of getting the job done and enjoyed it immensely. It was strongly enocouraged too! in my pre school years I had regular visits from someone who I now know was a speech therapist. At the time I had no clue who she was or why she came. To me she was the teacher who came to have fun and play while we chatted and created all kinds of art.
As I got older and had art lessons at school, we also worked with other materials. Wood, clay… anything we could really find to do arts and crafts with. It had a relaxing effect on me, so I continued it. Even in difficult years through college and young adulthood.
Though I enjoyed playing with clay and working with wood – my Dad is a carpenter, how can I not love working with wood? – Drawing and coloring is what I gravitated to most. With age I noticed that it cost me more energy to finish something I was working on. I’ve always had to practically glue my nose to the paper to see what I’m doing and when you do that on a flat table, it creates problems related to bad posture. I often experienced back pain and headaches during and long after finishing my work. So the ammount I did, became less with each year.
Moving to the Netherlands though, was a blessing in more ways than one. Here is where I discovered the iPad and eventually the Apple Pencil – Thanks Tim Cook! I could bring the iPad to my face and zoom in on the work I was creating. Although this still causes headaches if I do it too long or too often, I CAN do it and that makes me incredibly happy.
A typical art piece on an iPad takes me a minimum of 4 hours, which I tend to spread over multiple days. I do also still draw on paper and occasionally use acrylic paints on canvas. The beauty of tilting tables and good lighting – in my case less lighting – allows me to do this with minimal pain. Though it typically takes longer than an iPad piece and usually still results in headaches. So I don’t do it as often as I would want to.
I love being able to do it. It’s a great way to express myself and make my thoughts completely disappear for a while. Some art works contain signatures and watermarks that may look familiar to you. You’re not crazy. There was a time when I wasn’t confident enough telling the world that these art pieces are mine. I had another website and social media under a different name, specifically for my art work. Confidence aparently grows with age and time. So I’ve decided to move my art to this website and remove those old social media accounts. You can find all my work – both digital and traditional, in the categories below.
DonnieTown 