i don’t like the image of the tortured artist. it’s never made sense to me. i’ve always felt that art was usually best created from the perspective of sanity and a certain stability. on the other hand, i do feel that artists and creatives are well served by an enhanced, almost painful sensitivity. look at how much more vulnerable these rose petals are where the outer petal has been torn away. the veins look more prominent. the surface more velvety and vulnerable. more easily torn or damaged. that is how i feel sometimes. the world can be too noisy, too abrasive, too coercive. i feel i need to be the lower half of these petals in order to be myself, but i also need to create and defend a place that doesn’t require me to grow calluses in order to defend myself from the intrusiveness of my surroundings.

rose