My New Blog

I've been thinking about starting a blog for a couple of months now and why not? It gives me a great place for me to let my artwork be seen by everyone. So, here it is, the first post of Ealaín Anam. I get it, the title of this blog is probably a little unexpected (and unpronounceable).  Actually,  Ealaín Anam (pronounced ya-lin AH-nem) is Gaelic for "art soul". For a while now, I have been interested in titling things with Gaelic names (never mind that I don't speak a word of it...) in tribute to my Irish heritage.

So why choose this particular phrase for a title? I spent a while pouring over Gaelic translations to find something poetic, but 'art' and soul' always seemed to fit the best.

I think art soul says something about me. Since I'm a really shy person, my art is one of the only ways that I can really express myself without hindrance (yeah, I know that's an old cliche but it really is true). I think that if you really consider yourself to be an artist, there's something that has to come from the deepest part of you. For me, I believe that God has put a fire in me to create art; it's a bit like what Eric Lidell said:

"I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I can feel his presence."

Well, I don't pretend that I'm fast, or even that I like to run...but I've always thought that quote says something about other things. All I have to do is say "he also made me an artist. And when I create I can feel his presence".

That's the force that drives me to create. When I really get in to a project, I feel great, like I'm doing the thing that I was meant to do. My art and my soul are two things that become intertwined. I don't think I could separate one from the other, and I think that's how it should be.