As time passes I will present some thoughts about my passion
for painting. . .
In
my early years I can recall my anxious desire to paint and to draw. At that time, I had already started piano lessons
and violin lessons, and sadly there was only one painting teacher who instructed at a museum. It was not easy getting
into the art classes for reasons I fail to remember. With music lessons, and the high expectations to succeed with high
honors in school, my interests in the visual arts took a very back seat.
During college and university years, i was able to paint and draw in various
degrees of scale, designing and building stage sets, the same happening through the years while designing and directing staged
presentations. But, what a big difference it is to return to a small canvas, and a scene to be interpreted.....right
before your eyes. I do like to paint direct. On location !
Painting at the CAPE SCHOOL OF ART helped provide a better focus for understanding form and color in creating a worthwhile
composition. The Henry Hensche model is truly one which presents its own challenge for me, though I rarely paint within
that context, but always with the understandings which are available to me.
At this point in my life of painting, I feel most at home with watercolour,
although so much of my development has been with oils. In the summer of 2010 I had the opportunity to study with the
wholistic watercolourist, Ann Lindsay. It was a very freeing experience, and one which continues to inspire what I paint.
The large piece, SPRINGFLOWERS, is an example of a work, painted on location with the subject matter. How free can one
get ? I am delving into THE ARTISTS WAY as I write, searching for more depth and understanding of myself as creator and painter.
The process of painting is truly where I feel most comfortable. Exploring the many surfaces for paint, and the numerous
color mixtures and brush characteristics, provide me with substantial inner peace and contentment. I paint to discover
as many new ways for me to see, respond with paint to what I see, and capture an essence to a surface.
