PERSONALLY SPEAKING
~connecting with animals through art and story
Hi, I’m Blaze. I love to paint and write, and I’m shaped by the lessons life keeps offering me.
Animals have a way of bringing those lessons to life — reflecting back to me so I remain open and listening.
This space isn’t polished or perfect—it’s simply where I share my experiences, just as they are.
To start here’s a little about myself.
I paint stories. Stories that evolve from my own experiences.
I’ve always been deeply moved by animals—not only for their beauty,
but for the way true connection with them can change us.
They seem to open a still space inside me—a place that feels full and peaceful, like simply being myself.
Animals have helped me find my centre, so as a Trust Technique Practitioner, [check out the link] I endeavour to help them find theirs, even in the midst of disruption.
Sometimes I have found comfort in the face of sadness, insight beyond what I know, and
a sense of connection, healing if you like, in ways I could never have planned.
Humans have separated themselves from nature is so many ways. However we share so much.
Do we bond because we have that need to connect with other species.?
Animals feel emotions as real and deep as our own—
and they carry their own stories, shaped by experience and memory, just as we do.
As Jill Robinson of Animals Asia once wrote:
“Animals have emotions every bit as profound as ours –
and our duty to them all is to recognise this, help them, and work for the day
when we can look into their eyes without shame.”
Those words guide me, both in life and in art.
With animals, the real challenge is not in “making” something happen, but in allowing their story to become visible—
like deep listening and deep seeing. My painting process feels much the same.
It flows when I step out of my own way, when I stop trying to control and instead let something deeper come through.
It’s intuitive, challenging, and often surprising.
It asks for trust, and the willingness to see where it leads.
I used to think galleries were the answer. I spent years reaching out, trying to find my place.
For a while, I thought I had to offer healing, or be a voice for consciousness and change in a very direct way.
But over time, all of it began to feel noisy. Performative. Like it belonged to a world I didn’t quite fit into.
A mentor and friend, Susan Seddon Boulet, once told me:
“Take care of your art, and it will take care of you.”
That stayed with me.
So now, I’m doing things differently. I’m sharing what feels true—my lived experience, through painting and writing.
That’s all. Maybe that’s enough.
What matters most to me is being present. With animals. With the creative process.
It’s in those moments that something changes, heals, inspires—
and maybe, if I share that, it might resonate with someone else walking a similar path.
At best, I paint what I love. I write from the heart.
And I share my world—not as an expert, but as someone who’s learning to listen more deeply.
I believe animals open human hearts in ways we might never have imagined.
That’s why I share my experiences—through painting, through stories, and whatever else comes to mind.
A thought: What if open hearts have the power to bring peace into the world?
Love these words – “Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”
— Chief Seattle
Thank you for being here, it’s a gift to share my journey with you!!!.
Keep creating in whatever way is yours…blaze
Recent Comments