Journal
Writing from the art.
The Winter Painter’s Studio: Part Two, The Chrysalis Series
If you follow my work, you are probably most familiar with my public art. And public art does make up the bulk of my work. There are times though, when there is absolutely nothing better than being in my studio, or on a beach, or a mountainside, making art all for myself. When I work on a public art project, I do my best to facilitate other peoples’ ideas and to set mine aside. When I work on my own personal art, it’s just the canvas and me.
The Painter’s Studio: Part One - Sea Level Rise/The Mother’s Tears
Winter is the time to go inside. The nights are long and dark, the days short and often gray. It is a time for our part of the earth to rest, covered in a blanket of snow, rain, and darkness. It is time for us to rest, too. For me, that often means less public art and more studio art. While most of my public art is collaborative and community oriented, my studio work has always been about my own journey. I return to studio painting again and again to celebrate the incredible beauty this life holds and to process through difficult times.
To Allow What Could Be
Painting is all about letting go. I think that’s why it’s sometimes so hard for me to pick up the brush. The blank canvas can be very intimidating. What am I going to paint? What if it’s not good enough? For me, it’s almost more intimidating to work on a painting in progress.I’ve gotten something down. It’s not finished. It’s not amazing. But it’s not awful either. To continue working on the painting means that I might mess it up. I might change it from OK to awful.
Salal Dove: In Progress
When I think about People's Uprisings, I always see hands. Hands raised in solidarity. Hands raised in defiance. These hands defy those that would oppress them. They say "Yes! I am alive and you cannot hold me down!" But it can be difficult to raise our hands. We need to find our voice - find our power - and unlock it. For some, they have never had a voice and don't even know where to begin. We must move through many layers of fear, of doubt and uncertainty. We need our friends to stand with us. The power of these movements is not so much in the individual as it is in the collective force of the masses coming together for a common goal.
Redefining Peace
I have been struggling with the content of the Peace Dove Project. What is it really about? The doves are merely canvases for images that will portray the content of this project. It has always been about giving voice to the voiceless and about bringing struggles to the forefront of our experience. About bringing about positive change with art. But does it address a certain struggle? A certain people or place?
The Peace Dove Project
The other day I was papering one of my Peace Doves while watching the news. Revolution is in the air. People are dying, and fighting for their rights, and loving, and peacefully protesting everywhere from Wisconsin to Bahrain, from Libya to Algeria. And I am sitting in my house, constructing a dove. People are dying for what they believe in and I am making a Peace Dove? There is something wrong with this picture.