I had always appreciated and enjoyed all forms of art, especially painting, but it wasn’t until two years into college when I declared my Art History major that I realized I had a real passion for the visual arts. I looked forward to every single class regardless of the time period we were studying. As I sat in my small classes filled with eager creatives just like me, we discussed the history, inspirations, details, and lives behind the beautiful works of art created by the masters of their time. I mean, what could be more enjoyable than that? We took field trips to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Frick, and other artistic havens all around us. One of my senior classes was titled “Style” and my professor (Prof. Eliasoph, thank you) taught us about the world through the word “zeitgeist”, the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time. We took our final exam in a mansion overlooking the Long Island Sound in Southport, Connecticut and wrote pages and pages about what “style” means in the world < real life.
Back to International Women’s Day, when I dig deep and think about how my professional life as a woman has played out, from working in a field for nearly 8 years that really didn’t interest me other than building relationships with people (human resources) to tapping into my creative passions and becoming my own boss, Frida Kahlo comes to mind. During my junior year, we had to choose a female artist to master and she became my muse. She sparked the spirit of individuality in me and was always in the background standing tall and staring me down with those big eyebrows of hers leading me to break free of my fears and inhibitions and express myself*. Frida created her own style just like I am creating mine. And when I call myself an artist, know I’m not referring to some great skill of painting or anything like that, but rather this open platform I’ve been using to share my own creative filter of the world through my lifestyle and creative work.
SO, thank you Frida and thank YOU for allowing me to express myself and lifting me up and encouraging me to keep on creating on a daily basis. I hope every woman can have a passion that lifts them up in the same way and leads them to pursue their dreams and live happy.
*I did always have a large framed portrait of Frida that came with me during my early years out of college to every apartment, my roommates always got a kick out of her.