Matt Maes

"I'm just not creative"...This statement has appeared along my journey so many times that I can't help but contemplate what it really means, so often that it utterly breaks my heart. You see, to me, creativity is not simply a set number of activities like drawing or playing guitar but as a way of being, a dimension which has shaped every aspect of my life. The irony that my main route has been through visual art is not lost on me, and I would learn this essential truth much later in my journey. That being said, I've been doing this so long and have learned how to do it so fluidly that I can walk you through exactly how to draw if you so desire. What if I were to tell you that there are myriad ways to access it, it's opened me to a swiss army knife of skills, and that it is in fact vital, and has saved my life? Stick with me, and you might just see that you've had access to creativity all along if you would only reach for it...

I've always been a curious person and can't help but be compelled to seek the Truth, and never stay parked in one ideological place for too long. Growing up Christian, I oscillated between a genuine spiritual connection, and sense of illness coming from fear based belief which entrapped my mind. Little did I know that mythology would shine the light for me to exit the cave and declare "I don't have to believe what I thought I had to believe"! I wandered in the desert of Atheism for years, free in my mind but not in my spirit... Over time I learned from friends who I could recognize as free thinkers, speaking positively about God. The question dawned on me "Is it possible that they understand something that I don't?" The final step through the door was encountering phenomenal connections through my art which I knew I couldn't previously conceive. I can finally reconcile my journey as additive, experience spiritual connection on my own terms, and lead others to the same place.