Get to know Canary Artwork
Canary Artwork exists to remind you art has the power to heal and hope is real.
About Me
I use my breath to paint.
This is either an inside joke between me and God
about my being full of hot air or
a literal expelling of raw emotion on canvas.
Probably both
About the Art
You deserve one-of-a-kind original art.
About the Technique
Ruach means breath or spirit in Hebrew, sometimes used as breath of life.
When I first started painting, I only shared my art with my husband and children (and only then because the paintings were too big to hide in our house).
Then my best friend. Finally I shared one with my therapist. At the end of a session I sheepishly took out a smaller print I had made for her and while she clearly liked it, I figured it was her job to be encouraging. She started the next session with the statement, “I didn’t know you painted.” then the dreaded question, “how did you learn to do that?”
I had a decision to make. Was I going to share the truth, that I had started painting mere weeks ago or just a vague, “well, I’ve always been creative”? I had been sharing my grief and anger with this women for almost six months but somehow this felt like the most personal question yet. The truth was that I was mortified by HOW I was creating. I thought if I shared that I was using my breath because I couldn’t make the paintbrush do what I wanted, I would be laughed out of the room.
So was I going to trust her with the newest, most vulnerable secret or not? The thing was that I was actually in therapy to fix some shit, so I blurted out, “I didn’t learn anything. I’m just winging it. I’ve actually been using my breath to move the paint around. Isn’t that the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard?”
She lowered her head and I assumed she was laughing, but at least she hid it. What I wasn’t prepared for was the tears in her eyes and deep sincerity in her voice when she looked up and said, “Don’t you understand? You are using the very breath God gave you to create. This is important work.” She was so clear in her intention to get this message to me, it broke through my fear and I heard it. Really heard it. In that moment, I knew this way of creating was a part of me, determined before I was born. I didn’t need to be ashamed of the way I was painting, it was literally a part of me, as important as breath.
About the Name
Inspired by this passage in the book, Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle.
The quote is important because reading it was the first time I started to see my emotional sensitivity as anything other than a burden.
I had stopped listening to the deeply sensitive, raw parts of my soul as a child because they offer no protection. I started using alcohol for relief at 16 when it turned out that not listening does not mean not feeling. While I got married, got sober, and became a mother, my reaction to my sensitivity never changed. It was a hardship to endure.
Reading that passage changed the way I saw myself and my purpose in the world. When I started painting a few years later, it was the way those words changed my thoughts that gave me the courage to share my artwork with the world. I wanted to honor that and pass along the message, “your sensitivity is a superpower”.
“Stephanie’s one of a kind art astounds and confounds. One is immediately drawn to the mystery and intricacy of her emotions expressed across the canvas. Striking. Complex.”
“Stephanie’s art is so captivating, from the way she creates her pieces with her own breath, to the care and technique she imparts to complete each piece. You see the true beauty of her soul in her art.”
