Only Happy When It Rains

I made this specifically for the Charlotte Art League's exhibit called Threads of Hope: Portraits of Mental Health

This self portrait depicts themes of seasonal depression. I've always found the correlation between the weather and our moods fascinating. Some love it when the sky is glooming and crying and others prefer the sun beating down their face. When winter strolls along, the days are shorter, nights are longer, and the sun only bares its rays for a limited amount of hours each day. When the sun sets at 5pm each day, we all groan in unison because frankly, nobody likes it. And during this time, the seasonal depression hits much stronger for all of us, including myself. We are wired to want that sunlight, that natural serotonin, and when we don't get enough of it, everything looks gloomier, duller, and darker. But when the sun is hiding, its light is still within us. Even if we are in the dark, stuck inside on a rainy day, not wanting to get out of bed, there is still that shining light inside of us.

The "Hemmingway-esque" poem I wrote for this exhibit was "She shines even when she cries." I wanted the portrait to be crying sparkly tears, symbolizing the light that is still inside us even if we feel like everything is falling apart, feeling like giving up, feeling like no there's no hope but long story short, there still is hope. And I hope people who are struggling with their mental health see that.

When I create art, I find a lot of inspiration through music. The title of this piece is a reference to the Garage song with the same name, it's linked below if you want to listen. 

Charlotte Art League is partnering with Mental Health Reimagined (MHRNC), a local nonprofit dedicated to creating transformative spaces to reimagine how we think, treat, and talk about mental health.

In celebration of mental health awareness month, we invite artists to participate in The Bridges Project: Threads to Hope event, an exhibition that explores the power of collective healing through the power of storytelling, art, and community engagement. When over 230 people die by suicide a day, it's clear we need a new approach to suicide awareness.

The Goal: Eliminate Stigma, End Suicide: One connection, one story, one day at a time, through art, education, advocacy, and collective healing.

Artists are invited to submit PORTRAITS depicting people with lived mental health experiences AND/OR 6-word "Hemmingway-esque" STORIES about their mental health/suicide journey. (The legend goes that Ernest Hemingway, once challenged to craft a complete short story in just six words, responded with, "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." Thus was born a novel genre of short storytelling - the six-word story.)

-Charlotte Art League