Obsession

byLea Keohane, 2011. 8" x 8" pencil & watercolor on paper. All Rights Reserved

I've always wanted to participate in Illustration Fridays, but never got around to it. So this is my 1st. The topic this week was "obsession."

Besides the darkness that I see as inherent in the word obsession, I have been wanting to begin exploring some of my darker feelings in my work--at least privately, in my sketchbook--lately. Most of my work is quiet and introspective in a meditative way. It is meant to be thoughtful, uplifting. Looking for the beauty within myself so that I may finally see the beauty without. Hopefully inspiring others to do the same.

But this search for inner beauty would not be necessary if I had not spent so many years of my life suffering from a lack of self confidence, an inability to see my own worth. An acute pain that made me at many times wish I could simply vanish into the shadows so that no one could look at me.

I don't feel that way anymore. Not that I am magically some mountain of self-confidence, but I don't want to disappear. Most of the time I even feel pretty good about myself. I could write volumes on the journey that I've taken to get here, but that is for a later time. For now, "Obsession," a girl in the dark.