I live a privileged life up here on the mountain, one made up of many diverse and beautiful experiences: quiet solitude within nature, good friends, good food and good dogs (oh, and yes, I must include the cats if I know what’s good for me)…
Living a Life of Abstraction
So I make my paintings, influenced by the rich tradition of those who went before me, works made possible by the sacrifices required of revolution, by great artists breaking new ground. I think those artists live on, not only in their own works they left behind, but in the works of those of us who call ourselves abstractionists… the ground they broke is still bearing fruit.
Rising Above Fear
I haven’t been painting. Forever. In fact I’d wondered if I’d forgotten how or if I’d somehow just stopped being a painter. When I did last paint, I fell back on a formula that had worked for me before and, while I do like those paintings, they were “safe.”
Clearing As a Creative Act
But here is the thing about clearing, about paring down to what is essential in a life: you will need to make difficult choices. And these choices can put into motion things you couldn’t possibly have foreseen.
Passion Versus Obligation
Painting isn’t just about stepping up to the easel. It’s about living a life that is filled with inspiration, about creating the space to ruminate and consider and to pursue what fills me.
What Robert Motherwell Said…
I set out walking. There is no other way of putting it. I walked and walked, taking in this new place I called home. It was a need, a sort of walking meditation, that soothed something deep inside me.
The Art of Becoming
Apparent or not, these pieces were all born of the land. They illustrate a period of intense soul searching and growth that could only take place in the embrace of this place I had come to trust.