This piece is a reflection of my feelings of childhood.

I chose to include images and words that I felt best described the things from my childhood that I find myself missing in my every day adult life experience.

It was inspired by the things that I do when I want to reconnect with my inner child: sing, wish, adventure, dream, imagine, dance, love, play, explore, and laugh.

I began by adhering some line art images to a canvas with matte gel medium. I then did a wash over the canvas and images with liquid acrylics and metallic paints, and then applied interference blue to the line art images. From there, I began to doodle (one of my favorite childhood activities) with various gel pens and paint markers.

I chose to use bright colors to reflect the boldness I associate with being a kid before I was taught to conform to the world around me and to not draw too much attention to myself as that is looked upon as "disruptive".

I had a great time working on this piece ... or should I say “playing with” this piece? I hope the joyful mood that this piece awoke in me can do the same for others.

Please see the detail images for a better look at everything included in this collage.