Artist Statement: Christian Sottile

In my attempts to organize my belongings last night I decided to go through a few piles building up on my desk. Not surprisingly, as I have a bit of an obsession, I ended up uncovering 5 different notebooks. Each one filled with pages of to do lists, quotes, business plans, sketches, inspirations, logo ideas - basically any thought that flowed through my head. It's really important to me to have a physical thing that I can hold on to rather then just a blog or word document. I find that it helps when I take the time to sit down, pick up a pencil and consciously think about that words I'm putting to paper. Unfortunately, when I come across an old notebook, all previous tasks are quickly forgotten as I sit down exactly where I am and become absorbed in my past thoughts.

Last night I stopped on a particular page where I scribbled the artist statement of Christian Sottile, principal in the internationally recognized urban design firm, Sottile & Sottile and dean of the School of Building Arts at Savannah College of Art and Design. It is so simple, yet so powerful that every time my finger traces the words I'm instantly inspired and motivated to create. I hope it does the same for you.

"Make it so beautiful is breaks their hearts; fills their minds with wonder and awakens their souls to awe."

Christian Sottile

Quote: Anne Lamott

Found this beautiful quote on Brainpickings.org. Non-fiction writer, Anne Lamott, on why we read and write:

"Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand out senses of life: they feed the soul. When writers makes us shake out heads with the exactness of their prose and their truths, and even make us laugh about ourselves or life, our buoyancy is restored. We are given a shot at dancing with, or at least clapping along with, the absurdity of life, instead of being squashed by it over and over again. It's like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can't stop the raging storm, but singing can chance the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship."

The funny thing is, reading Anne's quote brought about the same emotions that she was articulating.