What I Love to Do

By Eerren

The one question I am always asked is, "So, why Modest Fly Art?"

And, when asked, I always have trouble explaining how and why it actually came about so I decided to write about it, copy and paste it to the virtual world, and point people to it when asked again. So, here it goes:

When I was in school for my Bachelor's in Illustration at Art Center College of Design, I had to pick my favorite word in a certain class and explore it. I chose the word "modest" and began working on what it means, what it looks like, how it feels, and where it is... Here is my short explanation of it from a couple of years back:

'“Modest” is a low profile word, used a handful of times, and possessed occasionally. The sound of modest is so quiet that it makes me feel, almost, shy using it. Modest can be humble, shy, unpretentious, reserved, and timid. When I think of modest, I see light colors, colors that almost fade and turn into white. It reminds me of pearls, lockets, antiques, grandparents, and the vintage. It is what everyone feels when they observe a bird feeding on seeds or when they encounter a ladybug and hold it in their palm. It is what I see when a little girl tugs at her mom’s dress for her attention, and what I experience when I sit in a room full of people and try to fade into the background. An old family tree framed on my grandparent’s wall is modest and a lantern on a street in Paris is modest. Petting a puppy is almost modest and so is a black and white picture. Modest does not exist enough, and when it does, it goes unnoticed most of the time."

So, there is is... my explanation of the world that surrounds me. As for "fly," it comes from a dragonfly necklace my mom used to always have around her neck when I was young. It was gold with turquoise wings and it was the modesty around the one woman I thought was perfection to me...

When I finally graduated and had to come up with a name to represent myself, Modest Fly Art was what I came up with, and "studio gallery" was added, obviously, to represent a place.

These days, it is more than just an explanation... it is what represents me and what I love to do...