a r t CREATE DESIGN l i f e
The life, mind, and work of Blake R. Horsley
As a child I escaped through drawing. My mind would carry me to a story that only I could see, but through art, I could invite others to share in my vision. My dream at a young age was to become an artist, but an art teacher in high school said I wouldn't, for I took too much time to finish anything assigned. I was a perfectionist and I just could not accept that in art, nothing is perfect. I gave up my craft, but shortly after, in grade eleven, I discovered graphic design. I fell in love with it immediately, and to this day, more than ten years later, I still do it almost any chance I can. I have developed a style that integrates traditional mediums, such as sketches, pastels, paintings, marker drawings, along with other digital mediums such as photographs, that I combine using graphic design techniques. Through graphic design I have found a way to perfect my art. Just as a painter layers their paint, using graphic design, I layer my art. Creating art gives me more joy than any other task, easing my mind in the process, and bringing me to see my own reflection more than anything else. Art is my life, combined with the dreams I have while I am awake, that take place in my own imagination.
AN INTERVIEW WITH
Inspiration is my favourite word, but to pinpoint what inspires me most is almost impossible. The world, and the universe surrounding, is just so vast, so infinite, how can one even begin to count every beautiful thing?
I guess if I were to really think about what truly inspires me, more than anything else, love would be my response. The love I share with my friends, the love I have with my brother, and the love I have with my dad, my hero, is the reason I create. When my two dogs greet me at the door, happier to see me than they've ever been it seems, I feel something inside me that makes me feel so blessed. In those moments I am inspired. As I stop, breathe, and open my eyes, no longer feeling alone, and always feeling love, I see inspiration everywhere. I know it is okay to dream while you're awake.
Being an artist is a challenge, as the work can be created but not everyone can see it. I am so proud of the beauty captured in my work, and want nothing more than an audience to share in what I have made. I can now share my story, believing in a dream in which I am an artist that seems to be more real than a dream could ever be. What makes my world more than anything else is happiness shared with good company. I love to laugh, and I love to share laughter with the people in my life that bring me joy. My world would be empty if it were not for the people in it. When I am low, I look back at the times I've shared with the people who believe and care about me. Instantly I remember why I love life and always will. My world lost someone dear this last fall, as my mother took the next step and sadly passed away. When alive though, she always filled my world with an affection that cannot be compared, and though she's gone, those memories and moments shared grant me a feeling of comfort that I know will never die. I feel her smiling down, as I further venture into this world that I am so lucky to experience. The sheer beauty of it though would be nothing if I had no one to see it with. But I do, and my world goes round because of that fact. I once stood alone at the ocean and watched the sunrise. I felt an energy that cannot be compared, and I saw beauty that even as an artist, I knew not exists. Alone as I stood, all I could feel was the ultimate thing that company could provide.
In that moment love and happiness surrounded me, and I was embraced by a presence that, even now, I cannot fully comprehend. But that feeling does not even compare to the feeling I get when Amanda comes home.