I have been creating artwork for the past 5 years or so. When I first started, it was for personal expression like most of my creative work to that point. I have always had a hard time expressing how I feel with my words, but this gave me a sort of creative outlet that let me communicate the things that were hard for me.

Most of the time that expression has been a real gift for me, this ability to express myself through art. However, at times the process has also felt suffocating. I felt pressure to purely express what I was feeling while at the same time creating work that was abstract enough for the viewer to draw their own interpretations or have their own experience with my work. After a while, this made it more and more difficult to make art and more importantly to enjoy making it. I never felt less of a pull to create, but I found I was making less and less art because of this problem.

This past summer though my brother pushed me to look into NFTs and digital artwork. This is when I was reintroduced to Art Blocks and various other generative artworks. I must admit the first time I saw a Fidenza by Tyler Hobbs and heard it was created by “a computer” I didn't love it. But the more I saw the pieces and the more I understood generative artwork, the more intrigued I was. The artwork is not created by “a computer”. The artwork is created by the artist. Tyler is using his code as a medium, not dissimilar to how he would use his paintbrush to create a work of art on a canvas.

After becoming more intrigued with this new medium (new to me at least). I began learning more about how it was created. Thankfully, I have had enough exposure to JavaScript that I was able to start playing around with some free tools like P5JS, Processing, and many tutorials.

Once I became more comfortable with it, things started to click. It was fun to be in a different medium. Because I was working with new tools, I was forced to start very simply. It was a practice of stepping out of my normal process and trying a different one to see what it could teach me. And it brought me back to some basics because I was out of my element. So, I had to start with color, shape, and composition. It was such a freeing process. I wasn't worried about conveying a complex idea. I was just trying to create a program that will make pleasing and interesting abstract works.

Below are a few example images from my project - Langley - an exploration of color, shape, and composition. I am hoping to release the project on (fx)hash in the next couple weeks.