High School
As is the case with high school years, there came as many fond memories as there was turbulence in all areas of my life including school and home, and art not only continued to be my passion but often a coping mechanism and means of survival. Chaos around me drove to hyper focus on growing my skills, experimentation as a means of escape and release, and at times the only consolation I may have during times of intense isolation and loss.
Visual art, along with music, became my outlet that saved me from very dark paths I most certainly would have otherwise taken. I began high school on a high note, spent a couple of years dipped very low with art to keep me afloat, and ended high school back on a high note and feeling a strong flow as an artist.
First summer of high school
The summer after my freshman year—out of nowhere—I came down with a severe case of mono. It was so severe that my Dad would tell me later that he and my Mom were way more worried than they let on, and it took me a full 2 years to get my energy level back to normal from the fatigue symptoms. I would come down with the mono in mid June, and after my visit to the doctor I was to be on bed rest for a minimum of 2 weeks. For my younger brother's sake who shared a room with me, it was decided that he wouldn't come into our room for at least a week so he wouldn't catch it. It was to be the strangest and loneliest experience I'd ever had up to that point. To make matters worse, during my "quarantine" my girlfriend at the time became involved with another guy that had pursued her for a while and it was her best friend that broke the news to me in the second week. Needless to say it crushed me and the timing couldn't have been worse. Fortunately at the beginning of these 2 weeks, my Mom had given me a very nice drawing tablet and very pricey Prismacolor colored pencil set to keep me occupied while I was holed up in my room. It was during these next few most challenging weeks that I grew immensely artistically, almost like a download of some kind, and my attention to detail and sense of utter dependence on drawing stretched my abilities and propelled me to a whole new level of drawing accuracy in a mere 2 to 3 week period. It was a strange yet unmistakable exchange of physical and emotional pain for artistic elevation that I had never experienced before. These are the works that resulted from this period.
The long recovery
Sophomore year geared up fast and I had to hit the ground running anyway while still in full recovery after mono. I was learning forgiveness having stayed with the girlfriend, home life was beginning to crack and by the end of the school year it would end up a broken home. I was working my job after school, and joined a band and was playing clubs around the bustling Houston club scene with a fury. The visual art (along with my musical taste and expression) became more experimental, more aggressive, and almost surgical at times to allow me a sense of some kind of control of some part of my life while so much else seemed to be in utter chaos. As junior and senior year rounded out, my physical energy and self confidence began to somewhat return but I was forced into self-discovery. While my musical expression as a guitarist for a young and upcoming local band allowed for an outlet of my angst, my visual art gave me a safe place to temper and soothe all of the uncertainty I found myself surrounded by.
I'll see my way out...
What a huge difference a year can make. Senior year finally arrived, and I made it through the 7th grade purgatory of high school that were my sophomore and junior years.
After a roller coaster 4-year ride, I started with a high, survived the major dip, and ended on a high note. This would be propel me to a strong start after graduation, or so I thought...