Art has the potential to reveal our raw experience before we are able to consciously grasp or express it
Thank you for your interest in my work!
I believe art has the potential to reveal our raw experience before we are able to consciously grasp or express it. Art connects us to the humanity in ourselves and others by speaking from and to the places witout words.
Ultimately, I believe that art is the soul manifested. It is necessary for our health and the optimal function of our brain. This is why I have created this website—to share art and the importance of creativity in nourishing the essence of every layer of our being.
Are has alwasy been my safe haven, but it wasn’t until my sophomore year of college that I began to understand how many times it had saved me. One month before my sophomore year began, my sister suddenly passed away. I had everything in place to continue with my pre-med requisites. In her passing, I was faced with the choice of either taking a year off to be with my grief or ignoring it and powering through a schedule of hard science classes. Neither option felt healthy, so I explored studying something that could help me through the grief. Art was the obvious answer, as it had carried me through previous difficulties and was originally what I had intended to study in college. So, I changed my schedule to focus entirely on art. I took art history, life drawing, etching, lithography, and printmaking. School became my therapy and served as a bridge to a journey into the vulnerability of sharing, and eventually teaching art.
This journey began in a life drawing class. We were assigned a self-portrait to be viewed by the entire class, and with it, we were to share our artistic process. As I viewed my classmates' work and listened attentively to their reflections on their own processes, I noticed that each portrait was an unintentional unveiling of an inner story—insecurities, strengths, pain, and defenses. I was stunned by the honesty I was witnessing and terrified of what my portrait might reveal about my own inner story.
Despite my efforts to create a more defined and lighthearted depiction of myself, my drawing emerged as an honest portrayal of my hidden grief—pale, ghostly, and almost translucent. Art had always been a form of expression for me, but in that moment it became a powerful tool for self-reflection. Through the process of creating, and objectively stepping back to view my self portrait, I was able to admit feelings I hadn’t fully acknowledged. When my classmates asked about my process, I reluctantly shared my sister’s passing and admitted that, despite working hard to deepen and define the lines of my face and clothes, the drawing depicted how I often felt—pale and translucent, like I wasn’t fully present.
At that time in my life, I was very stoic and appreciated being seen as the strong person I was. Being seen by my classmates in the complete vulnerability of greif was one of the most difficult moments of my life. It marked the beginning of a long, transformative journey into vulnerability, art, and the healing nature of creativity.
My journey into vulnerability is ongoing, and it has led to this website, my current training as a License Mental Health Counselor, and this moment with you.
Thank you for being here! I hope the pages of this space inspire you to create!
Connect with me if have any questions—I will do my best to answer them, and if I don’t know the answer, I’ll be honest about that.
Warmest regards,
Jodi
