Hello and Welcome!

 My quest to find balance began early, and through every stage of my life, art has been my saving grace.

At age five, my parents divorced and I learned quickly how to live a structured lifestyle at Mom’s house, and a more free flowing lifestyle at Dad’s. With Mom, I learned how to dress like a lady, show proper etiquette at all times and I always had strict rules to follow. Dad on the other hand was more aloof, which resulted in a more carefree and less restrictive environment. He didn’t care how I dressed, nor did he have many rules for me to follow. 

When going into college I struggled to rectify the two different parts of my personality. When trying to pick a course of study, I greatly enjoyed and excelled in both math/science and in art, so, should I be an engineer or artist?  Defining my own personal style was just as perplexing.  Should I dress like the free-spirited bohemian or the well dressed tailored professional woman? Both of which I loved greatly!

In my early 30’s the duality continued. How can I be both a driven “Type A” working entrepreneur and a very nurturing “Type B” stay at home mom? How can I be perceived by some as having very masculine traits, yet by others to be extremely feminine? How can I be both an introvert and an extrovert? How can I be so emotional yet at the same time be so logical and analytical? How can I be both a perfectionist and at times a free spirit without a care in the world?  

Then, at the age of 44, I decided to get remarried. This one decision turned my entire life up-side down. It wasn’t until I came home from the honeymoon, that I found out my children loathed my new husband. My kids apparently knew he was an emotionally abusive narcissist and decided to move out without telling me. The day I came home to an empty house, I thought, was the worst days of my life. But then, to find out my children refused to speak to me, take my calls or even acknowledge the existence of me and my entire family, was a hurt so great, I couldn’t bear it. I lost my kids. How could a stay-at-home mom of 15 years end up losing her kids? Who am I if I have no one to mother? I quickly moved into severe depression with endless days of dreaming how to end my life. 

Through my art and alternative healing therapies, I learned how to cope. The pain of loss never really goes away, you just learn how to live with it. I figured out how to heal through creativity,  by integrating 100% of who I am. To take all the seemingly polar opposites that plagued me for so long and embrace them all at once. To finally live life authentically at the intersection of all the faucets of who I am, in an effort to live a life of balance.

Now in my 50s I do just that. I allow myself to be vulnerable and create the art that lies deep down within. The art that encompasses all aspects. Thirty years of realism turned now into dualistic abstractions. At times, I create intuitively with bold organic swishes, and other times with planned logical geometric patterns and designs. Designs that incorporate both the light and the dark, that feel both chaotic and yet controlled. Designs that incorporate both smooth and textured surfaces that resonate with strength and vulnerability, that feel in control yet free at the same time.  

My creations are an attempt to find balance through the study of duality. By creating my 2D and 3D organic and geometric art, I find a sense of peace within my spirit, as if I am reclaiming all the lost or broken pieces of my soul and reassembling them in an orderly and balanced fashion, hence the name of this collection: Calming Chaos. 

I hope you find as much peace in my pieces, as I did while making them. 

Namaste.

- Erin Leigh