Story
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Planting a seed
As a pre-teen, I watched as my stepdad worked wood into beautiful, functional pieces and created tools he needed to fix machines with quiet efficiency. Sometimes, I was his helper, while at other times, I just observed. The work was interesting, but as a young person, I was unaware that this creative process was planting a seed that would flower much later.
Artistic Impulse
My much younger step-siblings and I liked to play with watercolors. One day, my stepdad unexpectedly joined us for a moment. We watched in amazement as he painted a beautiful fall scene on the back of a discarded receipt with just a few brush strokes. The ease with which he accomplished this intrigued me, especially since I had never seen him create something born of a pure artistic impulse.
The Search
Three decades later, when I finally found myself in a wood workshop, those earlier experiences flooded my consciousness as I began to create objects myself. The ingenuity I had seen in my stepdad's efforts served as a model. With each new project, my thirst for creative adventure grew. Eventually, I started experimenting with concrete, finding pleasure and mental stimulation in the search for new ways to create unique cast pieces of utility and simple beauty.
A New World
In 2020, when the world stopped for the pandemic, I picked up pencils and a sketchbook and started to draw to combat boredom during the lockdown. I had always been curious about painting, and with time on my hands, I began to discover a new world of colors, materials, and techniques.
My favorite medium has emerged as oil, which can be sculpted at will when applied on canvas or hardboard. My subjects are my surroundings: my town, my friends, or even a piece of fruit before I eat it. Welcome to my world.
Agnes O.