An artist friend recently shared with me an article they wrote titled “The ABCs of Underground Art”. I really enjoyed it, and they encouraged me to write my own ABC’s of the type of art that I do as a fun journaling prompt to use to unwind and organize your thoughts. Those that have followed me for awhile know that I don’t typically stick to just one type of art, so to open up the limits I decided to make my “alphabet” the ABC’s of Creation. I have assigned a word to each letter, along with a video of my illustrating a cool little ACEO sized letter inspired visual to go with each word. Read, listen, or both – whatever works! 

B is for Beauty. Of course, when we create something we hope others will want to look at it (or listen, or watch, or read …) Beauty means different things to everyone. The great thing about that is, there is a pretty good chance that someone out there will find your creation beautiful, even if it doesn’t fit the norm of how beauty is typically defined. 7 years ago now, I created one of my favorite pieces of a young woman with down syndrome looking joyful, confident, and gorgeous. When it was shown for the first time at an exhibit and awarded, some viewers were confused, did not approve, or were even angry. (How did I know this? I have very acute hearing and was even playfully called “elephant ears” by my parents as a kid because I heard EVERYTHING.) Though the lack of openness towards diversity in portraiture or a disdain towards people with disabilities is definitely not ok, it is ok for us to not all agree on one definition of beauty. Many more people have adored this same mixed media drawing. We each get to define what beauty is for ourselves.

If you want to see the other letters all the way to Z, be sure to subscribe!