How I found my power from a pack of pencils

Since I was old enough to hold a pencil I’ve always loved colour and creativity. I loved learning, I loved doing lots of things. I loved movement and taking action. I still do.

I loved imagining a vibrant world full of fun, freedom and joy. I would realise these imaginings through drawing and crafting tiny paper houses and hats. I loved co-ordinating colour and creating magical worlds. I would sit for hours, drawing and crafting these worlds whenever I could. I loved never knowing the outcome, and marvelling as they evolved.

My creations made every day bright and exciting for me. As I grew older I found my real world did not mirror my colourful drawings or crafts. Many of my childhood memories are shrouded in grey clouds. At home there was a lot of tension, anger and fear. Violence was only a couple of words away and you never knew how long that tension may last.

I quickly learned that standing out and standing up for yourself was not a safe position to take for me at the time. Reading the room it was much wiser to follow the path of least resistance…  lie low and stay silent. I would retreat to my bedroom away from the noise. My box of pencils allowed me to create a world that was happy and full of colour. My pencils never complained at the way I did things. They never said I used them the wrong way, or asked too many questions. They never said I was ‘too sensitive’. Those pencils relished detail and vibrancy. They were always ready and eager for the next project. Always a nervous kid, my art became my special space to explore and be free.

It was not all bad, I learnt some positive lessons from living under all those grey clouds and beige skies. It taught me how to find the light, the bright, no matter how dim, no matter how small. That it is possible to find joy in the humblest of things. That most people, objects, critters and environments can shine if they are given a chance to step out from beneath the shadows.

An underlying theme across the subjects in my artworks honour the tenacity of the unrecognised. I want to give those items that may have been silenced or overlooked in the past a voice. I’m not interested in the grandeur of the most beautiful, I’m interested in giving new life and colour to the everyday. I believe even the smallest dried up bouquet, pushed to a dusty corner, deserves a second chance to shine. I see you, and I want to revive you with my paint brush.

Transforming my discoveries into luscious, energetic compositions of colour and light is my greatest delight. I resonate with the words of American abstractionist Georgia O’Keeffe when she said…

“I often painted fragments of things because it seemed to make my statement as well as or better than the whole could.”

Reimagined colourscapes is what I create with paint.  Whilst I have been painting for over 30 years, I have spent over a decade developing a painting style I call Fragmatism. In keeping with O’Keeffe’s theory, shapes are deconstructed and colour is reconstructed. I use multiple layers of pigment to build luminosity and depth in each artwork. I am fascinated by our optical readings of colour and how they can impact our vitality and affect our well being.

WHY COLOUR IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME

Finding the bright in the world still makes my heart sing. Colour is my symphony. The canvas is my stage. In my world, nothing is ever too bright or too loud. Courage comes in technicolour. And just like our energy levels, colour can have many moods, somedays it can be bright and full of bravado, and other days it needs to be gentle and nurturing. Be it a landscape, a clutter of curios or a quirky critter, I want to show you how exciting and joyous the world can look, when the light is just a little brighter.

To all of you who have had a little grey in your lives, I will be your colour warrior. Through my paintings I want to create a space that helps you find your freedom, ignite your own light and and reclaim the colour back into your life.

Life’s too short to stay beige!  🙂

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Want to read more about the positive impacts of art in your life?

Check these articles out

> Drawing – no talent required

> When did you stop being creative?

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This blog article is written and produced by Visual Artist and Arts Educator ©Kristine Ballard 2026.