Shifting Perception

On March 1th, 2011 the Earth shook and Japan's coastline and population was devastated by one of the strongest Tsunamis our generations have ever witnessed.

I woke up that morning hungover at my friend Luke Thorpe's house in Atlantic Beach, Florida after a night of partying at the G Love show. We sat there like many of you did and stared in shock at the TV as we saw video clips of the massive destruction that our Japanese brothers and sisters just experienced.Those images and those feelings had a deep impact on me, especially after just recently reading Susan Casey's book "The Wave".

About a month ago I walked in my studio to work on my new painting, "Fairy Tails", but the oil paint was too wet to work on for the day. I grabbed a wood panel that I had leaning against the wall and just started free sketching with no particular motive or plan. This painting just came to me with a glimpse of inspiration, a feeling of empathy and a sense that it needed to be expressed.

I decided to paint this piece in Acrylic paints, which I almost never use but I felt that if I was focusing on a new way of thinking, I should put myself outside of my comfort zone creatively too and see what happens.

Despite differences in Global politics and personal and social beliefs, we are all sharing this planet. When natural disasters occur on a magnitude as enormous as the recent Tsunami we need to remember to redirect our focus towards love, support and building a global society in peace.

This piece focuses on the beauty, hope and power as opposed to the destruction and sadness. A shift in our perceptions of each other and our world.