The Freedom to Create

All I see now is color. Colors blending and weaving through my mind. That is when I think of painting. This is what I've been experiencing the past couple months. I was met with a health challenge this past August where my blood pressure hit the ceiling. After 5 days in the hospital no one told me about the impact high blood pressure would have on my cognitive abilities. The weeks to follow were arduous and grueling. Not a single thought would come to mind. It was vacant and desolate. My neurons surrendered and ceased to fire. Every day I would try to hold a thought. The thought of drawing or painting exhausted me. I couldn't understand what was happening until I came across a study that was conducted which I will share with you here. High Blood Pressure May Impair Cognitive Function and Pose Risk for Alzheimer’s NEUROSCIENCE NEWS OCTOBER 29, 2016 Summary: A new study reports high blood pressure in middle age may lead to cognitive impairment and could be a risk factor for...

                                            This is a portrait I have recently completed in oils. Technologies can do a lot of things but there is nothing like the richness of oils from beginning to end. At least that's my take as an artist. Although, the image shown here is non comparable to the one that is in front of my eyes in the studio. Since my early beginnings in art I've always been intrigued with the challenges of portraits. I've looked back on my early trials (and fumblings) and of late I have been studying more and showing more improvement with my beloved medium-oils. My portrait endeavor began with pet portraits using pastel simply by studying books and getting the feel of pastels. This pastel is titled "Swingin'" which I took a photo from a cat book ...