In 2015, for over a month, I spent an hour a day painting the calm character of the lion's face and the detail in the mandala surrounding.
I suffered depression, lost my job and a close friend of mine took his life. Turning to art helped keep my mind calm and absent of dark thoughts. Every day I would be thinking about the end result and what I needed to do to get there. Mostly patients and lots of it; the repetition of such small detail on a large scale was testing at times, but It also opened my mind to the freedom of creativity.
This painting was a journey, it was the foundation to my love of art, it became a therapeutic practice I used every day. By the time I finished I realized it wasn't about the end product, it was about how painting made me feel. It became my meditation. I explored many different textures and mediums in this painting, from pencil, pen and ink to watercolour, acrylic, puff paint and gouache.
Horrible things happen in life every day, painting has taught me that its how you deal with it that creates who you will become.
More info: naomiclaireart.com
