Featured Artist Gwen Duda

Canadian artist Gwen Duda has overcome many difficulties to find her true calling and passion in her creative work. Enjoy and visit her website for more  about her.

 

 

I am an artist who has been dealing with the reality of chronic illness for nearly two decades. It has seriously impacted all areas of my life, including how I am able to do my art. On the positive side, it deepened my artistic sensibilities and moved me from realism (where I started initially and still have much respect for) into abstract expressionism.

 

 

With so many restraints in the physical realm, abstract expressionism allows me to fly! I have no limits, no hindrances, almost no reality that constrains me. I can soar into the great unknown and tap into that which is needing to be expressed, shared, revealed. I don’t judge it, I just allow it and hope that decades of honing my technical skills as an artist with the mediums I choose will enable me to do this well. It’s akin to a musician who trains for years – they strive to technically master their instrument so it doesn’t get in the way when the message arrives.

 

 

My goals? To not leave the artist’s life behind after years of trying to make it all work with all it’s ups and downs. Some days you wonder why you were given the gift in the first place.

 

 

Also, all the demands of being in this new technological world as an artist can be totally overwhelming (marketing, social networking, learning new technologies, photo-editing, web-site building on top of trying to create enough inventory, and on and on and on) you can feel buried by it. You also end up having to do a lot of it yourself because of financial constraints and other factors.

 

 

So my goal, especially after having lost the stamina that is required to pull long days, (or any days at all sometimes) is to continually find ways to make it work. And to not forget that it IS a gift I have been given (and much worked on) and that gift is tied to my spiritual life. This has been shown to me in some miraculous ways, so I know that being an artist and doing the work of an artist is one of the cornerstones of my being. I also hope that my work helps others in their struggles to overcome adversity in their lives.

 

 

What inspires me? Triumph in spite of tragedies, the majestic, deafening calm after the storm and sometimes the storm. The utter, absolute stunning beauty of the world and the heart break of it all at the same time. And, as Salma Hayek who plays Frida Kahlo in the movie “Frida” says at the end of the show, “May the End be glorious, and may I never return”.

 

 

What am I working on now? Well, I am about to enter the world of art in video gaming. The Smithsonian American Art Museum had an exhibition not too long ago recognizing the importance of the current culture of art in the video gaming industry. That was fantastic to see!

 

 

So for me, there is no difference between what is on the wall or your computer or iPhone screen – it’s what MOVES you, informs you, communicates with you. I can’t really tell you much more than that right now but check my website in a few months and there, hopefully, will be much more to show and tell!