When I picked up a paintbrush after decades of neglect, it was only to feel the movement and color generated by emotion. The whole act an avenue to reconnect with a joy that was absent due to the rage of COVID 19. Alone in my garage as day shifted to night I allowed myself the freedom to explore, and that is exactly what I did during all those shuttered days of 2020, adventuring across canvas or wood, a swirling palette of choices made in the moment. Pure heaven, my mother would have announced if she stepped into the makeshift studio on one of those hot summer nights, the last light splashing against the walls and me dancing about in full party girl mode. And now, you ask? Yes, still painting, but oh my, the canvases have piled up, so what better time for a Holiday Art Sale?!? Tis the season to wrap up my little loves and send them off to a new home.
Tag Archives: artist
Joyful Expressionism
Yes, I know it is NaNoWriMo time, and by today I should have a few thousand words written, and who knows by tomorrow I might be headed straight into some fictional dysfunction that pulls me into a whole cast of characters, but for the last few nights, with the uncommonly warm temps, I’m just too happy to still be out in the garage studio dragging my brushes across and up and down with all the colors that just hit me right.
From Inspiration to Installation
Summer allows for the garage door to be open to the light and heat blasting in full force adding to the carefree studio vibe I like best. I often have no real plan before I pick up a brush, instead allow the piece to speak to me. Inspiration comes as it does with movement and color. Other times it lingers so I sit on the stool and just take in the view. Somedays it’s all about the myriad of blues I can blend, other days straight up orange rules. You just never know what will kick off a painting session. But that’s the very definition of inspiration, isn’t it? Could be a spark or flash or sorrow or pain or image or song or laugh or cry. You just never know. The only real surety is to have a brush and paint on the ready, and get straight to discovery. Beyond that any surface with suffice. “There are no rules. That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen. Go against the rules or ignore the rules. That is what invention is about.” – Helen Frankenthaler


