I chose this painting because it is a quite and peaceful forest at night. When I am stressed out I think about a forest like my illustration to help calm down and refocus. This empowers me and makes me feel strong and in control of my like. I am used to being around of people and chaos, so thinking of a quite forest alone and it give me comfort.
My painting “Recovering” is about my anchor. Last year after coming back to school and getting involved with several school activities, I had some problems with mental health- overthinking stuff, getting pressured, not managing my time wisely- so I had to find a way to go back and make an anchor. As I was working on this art piece, I thought about what my anchor is and how I use it. Since I thought that I needed to focus and concentrate on my studying and academics, I chose studying as my anchor and started using my schoolwork to help me refocus and give myself a sense of accomplishment.
My entry is a hand sewn plushy of a beige snail. it has a zipper embedded in its muted jade green shell which hides a colorful florescent pocket of life within. My submission is about how hand sewing helps me to refocus and anchor myself back down to the earth whenever I get overwhelmed or stressed. The muted tones on the outside of the plush represent the stress, pressure, and tiredness that daily life brings, while the bright inside contrasts by showcasing the creativity and childish joy that lays hidden and dormant throughout a person’s life until they relearn to anchor themselves and live life in the moment rather than as a spectator.
When I saw the “Find your Anchor” monthly prompt, I thought about how much I enjoyed listening to music when I felt down. I thought of the song “Sunday Best” by Surfaces and drew how I felt when listening to that song. I ended up with a sunny background with music notes around my character. In the drawing I am wearing a purple cropped shirt, baggy black pants, a jean jacket, and an off-white pair of shoes. I also have on a pair of red-black spotted earbuds to make it clear that I am listening to music. I chose for my character to be jumping downwards as listening to music is a rush of happiness that is pleasant to me.
In this piece music is my anchor. Intricate melodies help me find the light when I feel stuck in the dark. Music gives me hope. Hope that whatever problem I am facing will soon be resolved. That is why I have chosen music as my anchor.
With this piece, my goal was to show a runner escaping a cluster of chaotic things. Running has been my “anchor” over the past few months, so I decided to have the person running away from the sort of nonsensical, disorganized madness that, without an anchor, can really leave people detached from what matters. I painted the runner fairly small because it allowed the overwhelmingness of all of the stuff behind it to show through, while also setting them in front of the objects to give the idea of an escape. I also used night and day to represent the more chaotic aspects of the right side of the painting and the calm of the left.