Art by a Thousand Cuts

“Art by a Thousand Cuts" 30.5 x 40.5” Hand- cut cereal boxes on canvas in acrylic frame Jenny Grumbles   Artist Statement: Brené Brown is so inspiring and I love that she encourages vulnerability, honesty, and fear-facing. As a little girl, I developed a very strong mechanism inside me to push down any pain or controversy and make it go away fast so I could continue on with a smile. As a 40-something adult, I have done a lot of work to try to only use that tool when it will be helpful to me because like Brene says, “if I look that truth in the eye, I will find freedom, and be able to write my own story.” So the past year I have been doing a special therapy called EMDR to learn how to rewire my brain and find this freedom. I got this itch to put down a paint brush for a bit in between commissions, and make portraits out of cereal boxes. I rarely make art that is not a commissioned painting because I am so focused on my steady income, the tasks in front of me, making my clients h