In 2005, I was going through some extraordinarily difficult times in Connecticut. I will not delve into the complexity of those issues, but suffice it to say, I was filled with a deep abiding rage and sadness following the dissolution of a great romance and doing everything I could to buffer myself against those feelings.
Art was part of how I coped with that world. I worked on graphic designs and paintings and writing almost everyday. I am ashamed to say that I lost almost two years of graphic art and writing in a cataclysmic computer virus accident that destroyed my computer shortly after Christmas 2004. Needless to say, I was quite distraught after that accident
"Cloak of Serenity" was a self-portrait representing my coping mechanism. Everyday I would get up and meditate myself into a state of appearing calm and serene. I believed that if I could not allow the pain to touch me that I would get over it, that time would allow me to heal all wounds. I believed the world was full of people that wanted nothing but to cause other people misery and I refused to be their victim. No matter what anyone did, I would stand tall and allow it to wash over me without a flicker of emotion.
I would wear serenity like a cloak though a dagger stabbed me in the heart with every step and my soul bled on the inside.