Erica Ross

Artist, Author, Dancer, DJ, Facilitator, Creativity Doula
Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat (Toronto, ON, Canada)

Flight, Acrylic on Canvas, with sewn glass beads, 24” x 18”, 2022, $2800

*Shipping not included

Artist Statement:

As long as I can remember I’ve loved the sky. As a child I would spend hours lying on the lawn of my backyard gazing up at the sky in wonder and awe at it’s shapeshifting wind, clouds and birds. How could this blanket of space be so vast and beautiful? 

Six decades have come and gone since those childhood days and many things have changed. Yet, when I ‘called in my muse’ for this Open Studio Exhibition, asking “Who are you?”, it was no surprise She came flying in with expansive wings and a round belly. Of course she would be from the sky realm, pregnant with possibilities! And yes… there’d be lots of BLUE!

As this painting unfolded, “Who are you?” remained my guiding mantra (invitation). Leading with curiosity and trust is how I create. It’s how I connect to my creative impulses naturally and joyfully. Listening in this way opens me to receive inspiration and claim what’s already there, and bring my dreams, unseen and unmanifested, into form. (Dancing while painting also helps!)

On a practical note, I love painting with acrylics. I can play with the elements of transparency (when using a retarder to slow down the drying process) and opacity. The idea of sewing beads onto my paintings came after beading an article of clothing. I loved the beading, but quickly realized how fragile it was to wear. It struck me that my paintings could be the backdrop for my sewn beads - which for me became the perfect marriage of fluidity (paints) and precision (beading). Loose and precise. Watery and textured.

May you feel delight, expansiveness and joy as you view ‘Flight’.

Bio:

For many decades I’ve been immersed in the creative, healing and spiritual arts; drawing on my skills as a dancer, artist, and lover of embodiment, the sacred feminine, creativity and community.

Raised in a home of art and dance, I’ve been a life-long Creatrix - making homes and projects in Canada, the USA, Indonesia and Wales (after graduating from OCA in ’77) - as a jeweler, enamellist and enamels teacher, clothing designer, boutique owner and dance performer. 

I co-created “Dance Our Way Home” (an award-winning women’s dance practice) and “The Move” (a large ecstatic dance community where I also DJ’d), and led weekly groups for Sheena’s Place (support for disordered eating and body image issues).

In 2015 I let go of my career due to chronic pain, and found a new Muse in the creation of two books, “She Reflects: A Spiral Journey for the Feminine Soul” and “She Reflects Journal & Colouring Book”. Through art and writing I found some healing.

Since the pandemic, I have named myself as a “Creativity Doula” offering private creativity coaching. I also host Open Studio: Creativity in Community, and DJ weekly at the Rise & Shine Shake (an online morning dance) where I am dancing (again) and painting. Most recently I have participated in two art shows (besides this one): The Christie Pits Artists Show (in person in Toronto) and “Audacity”, an International virtual exhibition by Roaring Artist Gallery.

Each iteration of my creative life has taught me more of who I am (as love), how I see the world (as beauty), and how I navigate life (with curiosity). Practicing loving kindness and seeing the possibilities of magic and wonder inform all that I do and create.

For more info about me, go to my About page here on this site. To see more of my art, go to my Artwork page.

I’m so honoured you are here.

Contact: erica@ericaross.com