Another Art Share: Snail in the Woods

I have been feeling very connected to the idea of snails lately – feeling aware of myself as someone who moves slowly through the world, or what feels like slowly compared to the pace of things surrounding me. The snail was the second clay animal I made, but I felt immediately connected to it, and felt warmly toward it, as if toward a part of myself that I hold dearly. I have this amazing photograph of myself as a six year old, gazing adoringly at a snail that was a class pet. It was nice to connect to these different snail associations through this art making, and was neat to see the different meanings that came out of one simple assignment. Painting was interesting for me – I got very focused, wanted to do a good job, really loved mixing the colors and creating new ones, and felt like I could have gone on forever in it. Creating a background of different shades of brown was really satisfying- I love doing that, and I love drawing/painting trees, but don’t get the chance to do it very often. I also feel deeply connected to forests and trees, so this whole image became very soothing for me, and also telling of the tensions and contradictions I hold living in this bustling city.