A lovely woman, T, messaged me today, thanking me for these wee daily artworks I’m posting, telling me they’re helping her face each day. Each day in which, at the moment, she has “this consuming feeling of sadness” which she feels like is smothering her.

This - edited -was my response:

“…and it’s so natural that you feel overwhelming sadness - there’s so much global collective grief right now. I think the way forward is to walk the line between acknowledging our grief/trauma/emotions, and not getting lost in it.

It's a line I've walked for over a decade while dealing with - and healing from - significant personal trauma. For me, it’s the making of my artwork combined with keeping my body busy, while turning to face my self and my emotions head on, that enables me to work and laugh and love and live this life fully. The way forward is through, not around.

Facing your actual feelings/internal landscape is often a very painful process. When you’re in them, the emotions feel so bloody big, and I’ve felt so far down, that sometimes it’s required what felt like an herculean effort to pull myself up and out and through. I just keep returning to what works - consciously using the tools I have to release the emotions [artwork/excercise] to the other side and feel okay again.

I'm of course completely imperfect at this. Everyday I step on the damn tightrope that this life is, and I just put one foot in front of the other, and keep on going, hoping to get to the other side. Some days I fall. Some days I experience such beautiful joy. Some days, like today, I feel like there is not really an “other side” to get to. Some days I just take being able to walk the line at all as a huge win.

[Walking the line 2020 is available as a limited edition studioprint]