K-OODI Magazine March 2016, Issue 4 | Page 126

TANYA CORDY - featured artwork "David Bowie" "Imagine for a moment that an artist be inspired, not by the nature of another artist. Not by what he has done to change or shape everything from fashion to music to the way people view the world around them, but be inspired by a simple person whose life has been changed by him. That is what happened with this piece. I worked on a cruise line and met thousands of people. Some more inspiring than others, I have to say, however the people who struggled with life afterwards were the most inspiring. This one lady I know has struggled with everything from homelessness to medical issues. At a particular low point in her life, she reached out to me, just for a little moral support. I hadn't spoken with her in years. I was inspired by her strength to go on in the face of number of adversities. I knew of her love for Bowie, knew of her admiration and how his music and his mere presence on the planet helped her get by, from day to day. Wanting to show her that people still care about each other, and wanting to make her smile, I painted this piece. She was my inspiration. She wrote: "Everything... his music got me through every day... his words helped influence my decisions, helped me be myself. Helped me get through the traumatic events in my life, and made me feel every emotion. He was my musician icon... he never let me down... he made me brave. He was my hero... from the first song to the last. He was the one who I listened to when i felt afraid, alone. He was the one who saved me from all the bad things I went through. As a teenager up until now. He made me believe it was ok to be different. He held me up when I wasn't strong enough to stand on my own. He inspired the artist in me. He was strange and mysterious but sensitive and normal at the same time. I'm partly who I am today because of him. I wish he knew how many people he helped. His life was like an amazing story that you never wanted to end." https://www.facebook.com/tcbfineartphotography/ http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/tanya-cordy.html email: [email protected]