Someone encouraged me recently that as an artist I should be noticing that I notice what I notice. I’ve been noticing lately the many reasons why I paint. There are so many reasons NOT to paint…but, why have I chosen to dedicate so much time and energy to the practice of painting?

Why paint?

One reason that I paint is that it is a sensory experience for me. I experience the vibrancy of the colors flowing out of the brush across the canvas and the feel of the lines pouring out as thick paint moves across the surface.

But, creating art is also so much more than that for me. When I am creating, I take the time in quiet to listen to my own internal landscape and translate it to the canvas. I allow what’s inside to flow out through my hands. I process my world in a healthy and life-giving way.

Painting is meditative and centering. It is a time for me to sift through what is important and what needs to fade away. Sometimes it is a safe place to wrestle with unknowns and mine the depths of my life experiences-the good, the bad, the gifts and the tragedies.

“Centering Within #19” installed in client home

I take this long, hard journey deep inside my thoughts, my heart, with brushes, pigment, water, and time. I paint this inner excavation-down through the layers past all the junk that gets in the way. I take these sensory, emotional, psychological, spiritual, and intellectual journeys time and time again through the years.

The finished painting is not the journey. The journey encompasses so much more. But, the painting is an important by-product of the internal processes. Maybe it’s like the postcards sent to friends and family along the way while traveling?

“Centering Within #19” installed in client home

But, so what???

So, I’ve taken these journeys…why could that matter to anyone else?

Isn’t it self absorbed?

A giant waste of time?

Downright selfish?

A waste of precious resources?

A waste of art supplies?

Who really cares?

How can a few more paintings in this world make anything different?

These questions are just the tip of the iceberg hinting at issues that creatives battle against.  They are only the beginning of the thoughts that can and do haunt or stop our creativity from flowing into our world.

“Centering Within” wall collection installed in client home

But, still I paint.

Because I can. Because it is part of me being alive in this world. Because it keeps me healthier. Because I am human. Because you are too. Because art reminds us of who we are. Because it helps us all to heal. Because it activates our senses. Because it reminds us that we all have stories. Because it builds community around us that helps us survive the perils of life. Because we all have the task of figuring out who we are in this world and what kind of life we wish to create. Because we are all in this journey together.

Precious Flow, Resting in the Shadows, and Harmony Shift on exhibit in Chicago, IL

Freedom Multiplied, Space Between and Freedom from the Core on exhibit at Semeiotic Gallery, Chicago, IL

Exciting Happenings from the Studio

I have three exhibits available for viewing the next couple of months. Freedom from the Core is on view at the Becoming Free Semeiotic Gallery in Chicago, IL. This gallery space is a beautiful and historic church building in north downtown Chicago. The exhibit will be on view until October, 2019.

Nuances of Freedom is on view at Harvest Vineyard in Ames, IA. They will be hosting an Artist Talk & Reception on September 15, 2019 from 12:30-2:30 pm. Come join us at the Harvest Cafe if you’d like to hear more about my work.

My professional painters group, Paintpushers, is holding their yearly group show, MoveMent, which is on exhibit at the Ankeny Art Center in Ankeny, IA until September 26.

Nuances of Freedom installed in Ames, IA

Final Art Fairs of 2019

Finally, I have my last couple of art fairs of the year this month. This weekend I’ll be Rockbrook Village in Omaha, NE and on September 22 you can find me at the Octagon Art Festival in Ames, IA. This will be my only Iowa art fair this year.