I am an artist.

It took a long time to say that (about 40 years) and feel honest and good about it.

I experience joy in making art, and I hope to share that joy with the world.

I have been an artist since I can remember - I spent all possible hours during all levels of school in the art room. I took after-school art classes as a young child. In high school I took math class over the summer so I could take more art electives during the year. I would take the train into the nearest city on the weekends to take art classes at the local university. I would spend hours in museums and looking at books and magazines. I went to fine arts school for college. And then… I didn’t touch it for 20 years.

I got rid of the “carry my sketchbook literally everywhere” habit, I didn’t tell anybody I was an artist, I packed everything away in the basement. After school, I totally psyched myself out and thought I wasn’t serious enough or that I had nothing to say. I was totally mired in self-centered fear and doubt. I was not an extraordinary student, I didn't want to go to an MFA program, I didn’t see myself competing for gallery attention. I didn’t ever see myself being part of the “serious” art world - honestly, I didn't get it and didn’t really like the seriousness of it all. But during all of those long years, I daily felt that I was missing a big part of who I was. I knew that when I boxed up all those materials and sketchbooks in the basement, I was boxing up my natural joy of making art. And I would never have called myself an artist - I felt like a fraud.

In those twenty years, I chased other lifestyles that took my attention for a long time. After cleaning myself up, I established a corporate career, built a home and a family, and dove deep into spirituality and meditation.

During the pandemic, I had the idea to take a few art classes- I took one in papier mache which I found hilarious and childlike and fun, and then a class in encaustic and one in gouache. I remembered loving gouache in school - if you don’t know what gouache is (pronounced gwash), it’s an opaque watercolor that is less “fine art” than other painting mediums. As a bit of a contrarian, I love that. I love that you can’t mess it up the same way you can with watercolors - it’s so forgiving. And bold.

During the gouache class, I was sitting at the table and was completely paralyzed. Everybody else was just doing stuff and I just sat there, staring at the white paper. I just couldn’t figure out how to start - there was just so much pressure put on only by myself. The teacher saw the state of me and said, “You went to art school, didn’t you?” And then she said - “Look, you’re not gonna be rich and famous with your art, so why don’t you just enjoy it. The only difference between me and you is that I’m doing it.” She was a professional artist (meaning, she funded her life by her art) and seemed to be enjoying the hell out of it. She was a loud, bold, fabulous artist who sort of didn’t care about “the rules” (like using black in a painting.) I felt embarrassed but so uplifted - she gave me a few ideas to get started and after a few quick sketches in gouache I had made that first start - putting marks on paper. She saw the layers and said “you have to make art” - everyone else in the class agreed. It was what my inner self was saying to myself for 20 years. You have to.

At home, I really wanted to expose my two toddlers to creativity as a way of being; we had simple tempera paint sticks and canvases available all the time - we would make paintings almost daily. It was amazing to me how the kids would just make marks with total confidence, and be 100% done when they felt like it, and just move on. They loved doing this activity together too, like it was a mode of loving each other. I would make paintings with them and being together in that creative zone was so special. Then we started watercolors and I tried really hard not to think - just make shapes and use colors I wasn’t used to, like the kids were doing. I learned from them. I loved the bright colors and funny shapes and patterns. That first watercolor painting surprised me and was another step into just opening back up to that childish love of art.

Those two experiences - the fabulous gouache teacher, and making art with my kids just sort of unlocked me and I started a daily practice at home. I thought, I want to build a body of work. Then we’ll see where it goes. I bought some supplies and set up a table. Over time I took over a guest room to have more natural light and more space. Now my studio contains my meditation chair and my “office” for my corporate career. My art workspace is right in front of the window; I can access the art any time I have spare moments during the day, and spend hours each night.

I have redefined for myself what it means to be an artist, let go of old ideas and any pressure, and I’m just doing it. I am an artist. Every day. And I get lost in it - it feels really good to be free to be myself and express all the ways I perceive the world into art. And I’d like to share that. I think there’s an audience for every kind of art, and I hope this art can uplift some of you too.

If I had to describe my art, I would say - it reflects curiosity about the world - the energy, color, sense of humor and imperfection, connection, and sometimes discomfort that I see and feel daily. I transform organic shapes into conversations - the shapes react and respond to each other and the viewer.

I hope you experience feelings of joy, freedom, honesty and connection.

🙏💕🔥✨

- Emily “Joy” Archer