NEW BEGINNINGS

I’ve been away for a while, I just felt like I needed to disappear.

Nothing bad happened. I didn’t join a cult. I didn’t move to the woods (But it's a wonderful idea!). I just… needed quiet. Really quiet.

When everything starts to feel loud or performative, or like I’m juggling too many versions of myself, I retreat, and this winter I went in full hibernation. I unplugged from social media. From posting. From trying to keep up. From pretending I had something “important” to say every five minutes. I just hid in my studio with my paints and thoughts.

As a ritual, I usually start reorganizing a little to remove clutter so I can expand as I work. I Move a few books, clear a table. But of course, it quickly escalated. Suddenly the entire studio was upside down. Then my library. Then, somehow, the living room got dragged into it. There were stacks of books, art materials, painted canvases everywhere, half-finished pieces I forgot existed along jars of brushes I hadn’t touched in years. It was total chaos for a while.

But honestly? Inside, I felt calmer than I had in a long time. Last year I had revelations that turned my life upside down, and a lot of things just clicked, I understood myself differently, I stopped trying to force things, and I started liking myself more. And when I started painting again I didn't take progress pictures to share, I never thought if people would like it or if it fit my style. I wasn’t thinking about sales, I was just painting, and it felt just like coming back home after a long time. 

It dawned on me that I’ve been creating art for twenty years, trying to get better, be better, appeal more, refine more — and somewhere in that process I slowly turned into an artist I didn’t even recognize as me.

I looked around and realized I’ve been holding onto SO MUCH work. Pieces from different seasons of my life, things I loved too much to let go of, things that felt too personal, and stuff that just stayed because I wasn’t ready. I don’t regret keeping them, they’ve lived with me, I’ve enjoyed them, they’ve been part of my days.

But they’re literally taking up the space I need for whatever comes next, so I think I'm ready to let them go and to go live somewhere else. Not in a dramatic “everything must go!” way. More like… helping them find homes.

I get attached to every piece I make. After all, they have a tiny piece of my soul in them, so I want this to feel like an adoption event rather than a sale. If someone has ever loved one of my pieces and hesitated, this is probably the moment. I quietly made them 40% easier to say yes to on my newsletter. Are you subscribed?

I made them easier to adopt, not because they’re worth less, just because I’d rather see them on someone’s wall than stacked safely in my studio while I move forward.

If one of those older pieces calls to you, you know where to find them.

And in case you are wondering, I’m not quitting art. If anything, I’m finally making the art I should have been making all along.

I just needed to stop trying to be what I thought I was supposed to be. I’m still here, just a little more honest, a little less filtered and very excited about what’s next.

And if not, just know that I’m okay.

LOVE,

DANITA.