More Than Beautiful
INTRODUCING: MORE THAN BEAUTIFUL
As an Artist, you never know how a small idea can build and develop over time, transforming into something much larger than its start. Inspiration can come from anywhere: a conversation, a song, something you see, time in nature, another person, an animal. Any experience can come to influence and transform your work.
The idea for the “More Than Beautiful” project started at an event in 2022 during a conversation I had with a young mother who was buying several small prints of my work to display in her young daughter’s bedroom. She wanted to include images of women in the outdoors in her daughter’s daily life to inspire her to become strong, capable, self-possessed, excited about life, and adventurous as a whole. This young mother told me that she had looked high and low for images that would fit her mission, and was having trouble finding work that fit that idea. I felt so moved and honored that she felt my art would work for her project!
That conversation got me thinking over the next year about my work, specifically about what I want to say with my work, and what I see in my work as a whole.
When I’m at various art markets and events, I’m able to see my work displayed all together. Through that experience, I see themes that carry through all of my pieces - ideas and features that I may not notice when working on one piece at a time. Looking at my work, I realized that, not all, but the majority of my images feature non-descript figures that could be either male or female. The majority of my art feature womxn in the outdoors. That aspect of my body of work is very intentional.
As a rule, in the past, womxn and girls have been severely underrepresented in the outdoor industry. Thankfully, that is changing because representation is so important for womxn and young girls. I truly believe that if you can see it, you can be it. Therefore, is crucially important for young people to be surrounded by images that inspire them in a variety of ways.
While thinking about my work, I started thinking about image and image of self. I started thinking about how that image of self can be influenced by everything we see and hear on a daily basis. Womxn and girls, especially, are often complimented on the basis of their appearance alone, using phrases that seem pretty inocuous such as “you’re so cute!” or “you’re so beautiful!”. I think when we only compliment each other on the basis of physical appearance, we can inadvertently limit ourselves and what we can be.
This exploration led me to the idea of: More Than Beautiful.
Eventually, I decided to compile a series of images of my work with accompanying words that could be used to describe a person in ways that are not purely physical, words like: strong, agile, skillful, persistent, and so on. This project became the More Than Beautiful Coloring Book!
Included in the book are 15 unique hand-drawn images of my work with 15 adjectives included, a one-page write-up about the ideas behind the project, a list of definitions at the back of the book, and plenty of white space on every page for writing, coloring, scribbling, or making notes. The book is printed on high quality cardstock paper. I wanted it to be a versatile object that anyone could color, tear out pages, and do with the art what they like!
I’m currently taking pre-orders on the book, so head over to the More Than Beautiful tab on this website if you’d like to learn more about ordering.
My hope with this project is that these pages will serve both as a teaching tool (around what these words mean, how they can be used, and where the reader may have observed these qualities in their loved ones) and as a way to inspire new ways of seeing and experiencing the world.
All of us already are "More Than Beautiful!" Now, let's work together to notice and celebrate how varied and wonderful we all can be!
