I recognized myself as an artist and things started shifting. I don't always identify a change in myself until after that moment has already passed by. When I look back throughout my journey I can pinpoint places and times that are markedly different. That's when I tell myself, "Look what you did there--that was when things changed for you." So looking back I realize that it was these canvases that began to shape the shift in my art. Becoming more refined, yet still experimenting with new materials.

Dragonfly in Amber

“In that moment when time stops, it is as though you know you could undertake any venture, complete it and come back to yourself, to find the world unchanged, and everything just as you left it a moment before. And it’s as though knowing that everything is possible, suddenly nothing is necessary.”
— Diana Gabaldon, Outlander

Snowfall

“But very quickly they all became grave again: for, as you know, there is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious. It is too good to waste on jokes.
”
— C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia

I found my passion for creating different uses for a variety of materials throughout this chapter. I realized that large canvases were not necessarily where I should begin my journey. The saying is 'start small' right? I was still perfecting my techniques and materials usage. So I started constructing smaller canvases that had a more focused meaning. I began limiting my materials per canvas so that each would not overwhelm the other. The result was a more refined design with a better quality of construction.