Why do two colors, put one next to the other,
sing? Can one really explain this? No. -Pablo Picasso About Anne Cherubim
 Art was always that thing I did for fun, that luxurious thing that I never had enough time for.
I tried to squeeze it in whenever I could. Now, I find myself in a situation where I need to work from home, in order to be
with my children, and so I am able to combine that luxury and fun into my week. I have been painting for over 20 years, but
my love for art goes back to a time I can scarcely remember. I have been drawing since I was a child, so young that I cannot
even recall. The story goes that my parents, for some reason, allowed me to draw all over the walls in my room. It is obvious
that creativity knows no bounds with a canvas of such proportions. This must have sparked an enormous creativity in me that
remains undeterred to this day.
With respect to art, as much as music or any other of my undertakings, I create
primarily for myself. That has to be the driving force. I have found that having a viewer in mind changes the way a painting
is expressed, a song is sung, a story written--and much to its detriment. I am more critical of my work, and not willing to
be satiated by anything less than what a painting fully intends to be. I have worked and continue to work in various
mediums, but the bulk of my recent work is done in acrylic. I discovered an impatience within me in waiting for oil to dry,
but more importantly, once my children were born, I wanted to be able to use more benign materials.
The beauty
of working in acrylic is also its curse: a quick drying time. I choose to see this as a good thing. That you can rework something
you don't like, and actually remove a layer and find remnants of what you had hidden underneath is a joy. There are times,
however, where the painting dries too quickly, while I have had to step away to see to my little ones. In these instances,
the painting has to become something quite different to what I intended, just by circumstance. I am sometimes surprised by
how far I stray from the original idea, but it is never-the-less a nice surprise. Another joy is those times where the most
beautiful arrangements of colour occur on the palette. The colours mix in such a way to inspire you to create something based
on the fantastic 'mess' of paint you suddenly discover on your palette. Therein lies the beauty of art, the wonder
of it; sometimes, even the artist is surprised by what happens.
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We do not have to speak
the same language, nor share the same culture in order for art to speak to us.
I grew up in Montreal, a metropolis of cultural diversity. Each part
of the city was alive with its own unique energy. One of the universals amidst all of this diversity was, and is, art (music,
being another). The dichotomy of growing up in a North American suburb, while being raised in the culture of a distant land,
has perhaps influenced the ways in which I perceive the world. The same holds true for the way I see art, and create it. It
is influenced by the world around me: by my time spent living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as much as suburban Maryland, and the
DC area. It is influenced by the energy and essence of having been a Montrealer for most of my life, as much as the desire
to once again visit the ever-elusive island, where my parents' lives began.
What's in a label?
As far as defining my work, I am not one to be limited by labels. There
is a vast difference in the types of art I have created over the course of my life, and I enjoy the challenge of new art forms.
Subject matter I keep coming back to, however, include water and sky. The two have such an enthralling nature, and I am often
enticed into trying to capture them on some sort of substrate. I am mostly self-taught, but enjoy taking workshops and classes when
I can. I have had the luxury of being able to try whatever seems interesting, in whatever media accessible.
The arts speak to our senses, and can touch the very
depths of our souls.
There is a musical element in most aspects of life, as there is in art. Colors resonate at specific frequencies that
correspond to specific chakras in the body. The same colours and sounds affect each of us differently. I very much believe
that art and music can have a profound effect on a person's well-being, and as such, I am fascinated with the concepts of
art therapy and music therapy. I hope to be able to explore them more fully in time. The ability to heal through art seems
to me a thing of beauty.
The arts enrich every facet of my being, and I hope they do yours too.
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