ABOUT THE ARTIST

Brittany Anna Wittmeier is a multi-talented versatile Canadian Visual Artist, Fashion Model and Actress. If you saw her in person you would never believe she is from the "wild wild west" of Canada, the province known as Alberta. She started drawing from a very young age, she had a natural talent for it. Discouraged, downtrodden, abused and put to shame needlessly by her foes in life (for no good reason) gradually caused her to turn away from drawing then eventually all her passions for a few years. She was a rose in a garden of thistles. But more recently, in 2016, her passion was rekindled and she does NOT plan to give up on drawing, painting and pursuing her dreams any time soon. The way of visually expressing herself freely with a pencil was almost like finding a long lost love, a realization of the truth and her purpose. This fierce warrior lives and breathes creativity. So if you don't see her meticulously creating works of art on paper or canvas you will likely see her modelling, acting, singing, dancing, writing, sewing, designing her own wardrobe, mending the broken and unwanted things in life including the hearts of others, fighting the forces of evil and other adventures.

me face selfie with pencils blue black and white edit 1 with label crop.jpg

I Shall Call This "Mini Me"

Well, I was thinking about calling this "Me In A Nutshell" but that would imply that I am some kind of nut. Although I prefer to think of myself as a pecan whereas those closest to me like to think of me as a cashew instead. Does this make any sense to you? Well, no worries, it doesn't make any sense to me either. Meanwhile, as I'm fantasizing about a warm slice of pecan pie oozing with gelatinous sweetness, a perfectly flaky yet crumbly crust with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream as an accompaniment… I realize I've been scrumptiously side tracked and that I should not write when I have yet to eat my second breakfast.

I could tell you where I'm from but that would reveal absolutely nothing about me. Wherever I've been I've never felt true belonging. I have been outcast. I am obscure, unconventional, unclassifiable, an anomaly. Yet I am like anyone else, I have feelings, a heart and a soul, intelligence and a body, ambitions, and scars on my heart. Rather I believe that which defines a person is partly their struggles (for how would you know your own strengths until they are tested? What you are faced with is what you can handle though you may not believe it). But what really reveals one’s true colors is how one chooses to react to those struggles or troubling situations. This is what most deeply defines a person (at the current time, since individuals are constantly changing, growing, adapting, evolving and are able to make new choices all the time). Therefore it is a person’s choices when confronted with a conflict that really define who they are, not where they’re from or what they own or their façade. It is their choices.

If I told you of all my struggles throughout my life then this “Mini Me” would be too harsh for some readers. So I’ll only share what I feel comfortable sharing and where it’s relevant. And it would also be too long to call this a “Mini-me” if I elaborated more.

As I’ve reflect on my life I’ve noticed that my journey searching for the truth and the purpose for my existence actually directly parallels my journey from drawing and painting for fun as a little child to eventually choosing to be a Fine Artist as a career. Somehow I knew the truth as child as I would draw fearlessly. I would draw what I would see, it was that simple. Then over the years a multitude of discouraging lies from a variety of sources led me to stray from the truth and from drawing or seeking to be an Artist as a profession at all. It made me feel I had no place in this world and brought me to questioning “Have I been made for nothing? Was I a mistake? Why am I here? Why am I still here?...” My drawings had come to reflect the torment, the sadness and the unending pain in my soul. I wanted to get away from the pain and find something better to focus on, so I stopped drawing for years (unless it were some doodle for a school project or to take a quick visual note) I couldn’t stand looking at a reflection of my pain. These tormenting thoughts have overwhelmed me multiple times. As an effort to combat these horrible ideas (which much later have been proven to be completely invalid bogus!!!) I made an attempt to adapt to this world, in the hopes that I might find true belonging and to eventually give justice where I saw it was needed, by making big complicated and wonderful plans for my life that might seem acceptable in the eyes of the world, this world that would only betray me in the end and leave me intensely damaged as if I were only as purposeful as rubbish. I became distracted from the simple truth with the ideas of the world imposed on me and of what the world I knew assumed was good for me. Yet I was conflicted. I never lost my longing for the truth and my longing to be creative and artistic, though it was suppressed extensively by the weight of the world. It wasn’t until conflicts in my life became more intense day by day, night by night. It was gruesomely overwhelming. And then the world started to give a little illusion of acceptance to me. It was a turning point for my life, whether or not I would compromise and settle for lies and be accepted into a world that would use me, exploit me, imprison me; or to seek the truth and take a leap of faith without compromising on my morals. I of course chose to seek the truth and to stand by it. There really is no other way than the truth for me. Anything else would be a prison of its own Hell. Since then, a major source of anxiety and torment, one who told so many deeply hurtful and theatrically exaggerated lies, walked out on my life. You can only imagine the relief I felt. How freeing it was! Since then I feel like I have been properly getting to know and understand myself without the domineering thumb of deceit pressing down on me. It’s a lot more peaceful in my life than it ever was and I have found so much comfort, confidence and strength in learning the truth and from that I have felt more inspiration to draw, to paint and to challenge myself beyond what I thought possible than I ever have. So here I am; a Fine Artist who is not only an artist as a career but one whom is an artist in mind, heart and soul. I am always thinking creatively, frequently thinking about my artwork and all my other creative projects. I always perceive my work as if it were all artwork with meticulous detail and loving care. I like to think I could be described as being "hyper-creative" because I am always thinking creatively and rapidly. I am always thinking outside the box, outside the rules, outside the unwritten boundaries set by the world around us.

I am not one of the crowd -- I am beyond the crowd. I run where the truth takes me not where people try to lead me.

I want the truth. I long for it. I yearn for it. I will always fight for it! Though some may think I may be standing down helpless, seemingly timid, or perhaps afraid to speak the truth? Know that I am like a lioness hidden in the tall grasses silently, observantly, waiting patiently for the perfect time and place to pounce, to unleash the truth whenever it is needed, as long as it does justice. I have been victimized by many hurtful and disgusting lies throughout most of my life, wrongfully treated, wrongfully accused, as well as those I love. Know that these lies shall end as lies deserve to. Some of these lies shall be blown out of the water with the plain and simple truth as you read ahead. I have endured things no one my age, or any age at all should ever have to. The arduous battles I have faced throughout my life have hurt me, broken me down, scarred me, tormented me, tore me apart, stomped on me while I was down, pushed me to the brink of suicide (more than a few times). Yet... I did not give up. I fought back. I recovered where it was thought not possible.

I am a survivor, a fighter for the truth (and I always will be).

I am woman. Hear me roar.

I am Brittany Anna Wittmeier.

Pictured are two horses I had just made friends with, I am the happy woman pictured here and I am enjoying all the affection from these delightful horses who's names I do not know.

Most of the following is or will be posted onto my blog into individual posts with more behind each weird yet true story.

SOME INTERESTING FACTS

First off, I've never attended any kind of art school, the closest thing would be your basic art classes in public school, and a few short, inexpensive community young children’s art classes from several years ago. Actually, I never even took art class in High School (gasp now) -- I opted to be a band geek instead (as I grin a little) and I am not ashamed of it.

Drawing, painting and just about anything artistically creative was very much a comfort and a lot of fun to me as a young child, I loved it passionately, but I think I'll write more about it on my BLOG. However there are some interesting things below I want to share...

In my very early childhood, there was a time when I kept getting these frequent inner ear infections and oh MAN! they were painful, so much so that it would hurt to even speak more than a couple words without these on and off painful earaches, so I didn't speak out loud much during this time in my life. I remember not being able to hear consonants and percussive sounds at times. So, I qualified to attend a school for the deaf for my kindergarten year -- it was actually an advanced kindergarten, I found out later to my surprise. Interestingly enough since it was a special school; where most of the teachers had a medical degree as well as a teaching degree, they would also conduct IQ tests, I don't remember the teachers ever telling the students we were being tested, and thank goodness because it just seemed like fun little games for me. I actually have a few very clear memories of taking these tests, or rather I thought of them as playing games at the time (as I chuckle slightly). There was one where we were given math problems and the teacher would time us and I remember figuring them out really fast, I was often the first to solve the math problem and I would be waiting on the other kids to finish almost all the time. While I'd be waiting I'd notice how the teacher was very observant, watching all the kids very carefully, writing on her clipboard. I remember all the teachers I knew were really nice there. I remember some times after we were asked to complete several math problems (not all at once) I started to realize "Hmm, I don't have to do this. This is boring." So I'd look around the room, at the windows just thinking various things like how pretty it looked outside with the sun shining in and how I’d much rather be outside than in this classroom. Then I'd look at the other kids and non-enthusiastically think "Ugh, I guess I better finish this math problem." I thought this more frequently especially after doing my favorite test. You guessed it, it was a drawing test! Or at least that was what I liked to call it. I think it would be considered a hand-eye coordination test. The teacher would time us and show us all at once a simple image on paper a little larger than a flash card, then she would show us and describe to us how to draw the image not too slowly or too fast, while the original image was clearly visible to us kids. I remember one was a five pointed star, we would watch her carefully and after she drew just three lines, I was so excited I think I said in my little four or five year old voice with a big smile on my face, "Oooooh! I get it! I get it. This is fun." I finished the rest of the picture on my card in a few seconds well before the rest of the class. After that, every time the teacher would say anything with "draw" in a sentence I would be instantly excited and think to myself "Let’s see how fast I can draw this!" The more tests we took the more complex the images would become, she would always show and explain very well how to draw them while timing us. There was one time I remember, before she even finished a few words after showing us the image, I duplicated it onto my card in less than two seconds. As soon as I said "Done." and held my card up excitedly, the teacher's little eyes instantly became bigger as her jaw dropped, I giggled quite a bit then she tried to continue the test with the rest of the kids, I remember she looked so amazed. Then after that I kept challenging myself to draw faster just to get such an entertaining reaction from her. Needless to say I have a very high IQ. But I refuse to reveal a number because I do not want to be known for a number. IQ tests do not reveal the heart or the soul of an individual. I would rather be known for my art because every work of art I create has a part of my soul expressed within them. And when someone admires just one of my works, it's like they admire a part of my soul. That to me is a true compliment. In the latter of the school year, a doctor who was trying to help me with the ear infections decided to change the antibiotics for me and I recovered very quickly and completely, my Mom always describes it as miraculously. Then I soon became a chatterbox. They said I was ready for academic schooling. Academic schooling was expensive and we were never well off, besides a lot of geniuses that have been immersed into fancy education have often been known to lack a lot important social skills, as a certain popular sitcom clearly points out.

So I attended regular ol' public school, I graduated in 2014, I did very well, I was in the academic classes of my choice (where available) despite the intense and almost constant stress in my life that I tried my best to conceal or to just get away from.

There is something beautifully ironic about this: I was considered to be nearly deaf, recovered and later on went on to play several musical instruments and compose a little music. The composing I do in my own time whenever I feel inspired or just need to take a break from my other creative projects. I passionately enjoy composing flamenco, various kinds of jazz and even epic orchestral music whenever I can.

I played the tuba for six years throughout junior high and high school in the school bands. I had to work harder playing the tuba because most of the years I was in band I was the ONLY tubist. So I had to get good. When I was in high school I dabbled in the percussion section in the school jazz band then started to learn to play the trombone, and worked part-time to pay for my own piano lessons. What’s even more ironic is that I learned that my body reacted allergically to making the necessary “buzzing” to play the brass instruments for long periods of time. I like to jokingly say “I’m allergic to the tuba.” So for my own health I chose to give up the tuba and the trombone (the major headaches were not worth it). It was a darn shame because I got a lot of good comments on how well I played the tuba. But I never gave up pursuing music because I love it too much. My late Dad gave me an acoustic guitar that his parents gave to him some years ago when I was still just barely learning the tuba. I was so excited about the guitar, but there were Christmas concerts with the school band where this little tubist was needed more, so I put off the guitar for years. Until the last semester of high school, life for me was becoming harder and I wanted to eventually learn the guitar so I thought I should start doing it whenever I can. Learning the guitar became a needed comfort and pleasant distraction for me but it didn’t solve everything. By the way, I taught myself the guitar using my music knowledge and very occasionally watching a brief YouTube tutorial. The acoustic guitar and the piano/electronic keyboard seem to be my main musical instruments lately, especially the guitar.

What I like to do besides drawing and painting artwork? Hold on… let me think there are so many things: designing and making clothes for myself, and sometimes for family and friends; sewing other things like a snazzy pencil case I designed for myself, making heat/cold flax seed therapy bags, and making things as I need them. Also I designed and made my own high school graduation dress. Then maybe months after my graduation I used part of the dress to make what I call a piano table cover even though it’s just for a tall narrow table just barely big enough to hold my electronic piano/keyboard, which by the way I worked hard saving up for. I am a crochet master! No just kidding, my mom is the crochet master and I am the crochet padewan. OK maybe not padewan, a crochet knight! That’s it (nods head in satisfaction) and yes I did just compare crocheting with being a Jedi. I also do a little jewelry-making, furniture re-upholstery, photography, creative writing (poetry, songwriting, etc) and of course I could never forget (though I did mention it a little above) that I love composing music and love playing musical instruments.

I love so many different kinds of music. How can I cover them all? There’s jazz, flamenco, epic, and even classical music to name a few genres that I enjoy so immensely.

I love without end just about every animal there is.

I like to think of myself as a tea connoisseur.

I like to occasionally read the dictionary and thesaurus for fun. Can you tell?

I say sorry, and often repetitively, to invading bugs before I end their small lives. This is weird, even for a Canadian.

I should know because I am a Canadian.

If the name "Brittany Wittmeier" is at all familiar to you then you may have heard of me back from my modelling days. Read the fascinating story of my experiences as a Fashion Model and why I chose to leave that industry right when it was going good for me in an upcoming blog post. Sign up on my blog to get notified by email on my infrequent posts.

I don’t smoke because it disgusts me. Anything that collects and clogs or fills up your lungs is bad! It’s that simple!

I’ve never done any legal or illegal drugs in my whole life and I never will. I am very proud of that.

I am intensely disgusted with all mind-altering substances and I wish they didn't exist, period.

I hate alcohol. I have seen the horrors that alcohol can do to a person. How it can transform a good person over time into a sociopath, I say this with careful analysis and without exaggeration. I’ve seen how it warps a person’s mind to losing all sense of logic. I have seen how it robs a person of their life. I have seen how it hurts and steals life from not only the addicted but those he most loved and cherished in his life. I have watched someone die because of how alcohol consumed him and of how alcohol caused him to betray those he loved most and who cared for him most over and over and over again. I have seen how alcohol led him to be manipulated by someone he hated so much, who only sought out to hurt him and humiliate him, then eventually stole what rightfully belongs to those three he loved most, his wife and kids. I have seen what alcohol can do. This is why I don’t drink.

You should only be afraid of me if you are contented with lies.

If you have no desire to seek the truth, know that the truth will find you.

It always will.

Know that it won't come at you gently.

You cannot hide from it forever.

You cannot escape it.

It is always there.

It is as unchanging as time passed.

You can bury it.

You can burn it.

You can conceal it.

You may appear to cease its existence.