My paintings are an expression of my belief in the importance of having personal interactions with the natural world. The act of painting is the act of observing and responding to not only what is before my eyes, but also the feelings that arise from those interactions.
I believe a lessening of our culture’s connection to the natural world has intensified the environmental challenges we face. Through abstraction I seek to engage people in experiencing nature in a more complex way. I hope to encourage them to observe their environment beyond the limits of a representational scene. I incorporate the lines and textures I see in nature into my abstract painting. Abstraction encourages me to see in a different way; a tree is not a tree but a grouping of lines, shapes and textures that interact with the sun and wind. Then painting becomes the act of solving a puzzle. I make a mark and it creates a visual problem to be solved with the next mark. Each mark creates a new challenge. I work to paint the moment, not the scene. Nature reminds me this place is one organism, everything connected. I paint as a way to honor the organism and the natural beauty around me. As I age I find the problem solving aspect of my work as important as the end product of painting. When I start from nothing, no idea or thoughts of results, I find my work reflecting what is happening around me, both environmentally and politically. And, as I age, I’ve discovered the act of drawing and creating with other artists is an important part of my practice. The process of creating together lends itself to a non-verbal communication. As we work together on the same drawing, to balance and create movement in a piece, to then bring the work to completion, that collaboration encourages a bond, an acceptance, and an understanding I have not found in other activities. |