Rose-colored Dreaming
by Al Smith
$130
My first and only art show I had done until recently was my Senior Seminar show in college back in 2015. All of the art I made was only black and white, mostly acrylic. I love all my pieces from this time but hadn't really made much since that show since I felt like I didn't really have anything else to create. I was laid off from my full-time job in January of 2023, which was a very hard adjustment for me as someone who had been used to the steadiness of that for the last eight years. I had started making art again about six months before I was laid off, just because the exploration and messiness of using color and different mediums would really help me relax after a long day of working on the computer. It was really the only thing that could let my mind feel free and not overstimulated. Since being laid off, I've been working to prioritize art, but that can be difficult with working multiple part-time jobs and balancing everything. But the times that I feel the less stressed and most like myself is when I'm painting.