Garden Of Life Painting

I spent the early part of my childhood in the heat and humidity of the south-Arkansas and Louisiana. The first few years of my education were held in a one room private school (Think of a modern day little house on the prairie school) grades 2-8 with approximately 12 students spread out throughout the grade levels. I skipped kindergarten and first grade, not because I was a child prodigy, but because there was no curriculum for those grade levels. My mom was the teacher and this did not work out very well.We lived on the school grounds in a mobile home (I was not allowed to call it a trailer. My Mom always said a trailer is what you put cotton in.) Because it was such a small school, there was no art class. Somehow I found the materials I needed to create, and that is when a whole world opened up for me. I began my newly found interest drawing triangular cars with huge wheels in the back and tiny ones in the front. The engine or “blower” as I called it was the most important part of the drawing. The bigger the better, even if it was completely out of proportion with the drawing. By fifth grade I was living in Baton Rouge, Lousiana and attending a larger school. My mom was still a teacher and there was no art class at this school either. By the middle of my 8th grade, I was doing poorly in school and so a decision was made to ship my twin brother and I up to Ohio to live with my Dad and attend school there. To my surprise this school had an art program with an actual art teacher and loads of art materials. I had discovered nirvana. I spent every moment I could in the art room creating masterpieces and before I graduated high school, I had decided I would become an artist. My Great Grandma was a painter and my Great Uncle was a photographer so thought it only made sense to follow in their footsteps. I typically work in layers, covering over much of the previous layer as I build new layers. I like the affect of revealing sections of those layers as I work. I have two young kids and love to watch them draw. I have started incorporating some of their drawings into my work. I like the innocence and playfulness the images bring while realizing that duplicating their work causes a forced freedom that comes naturally to them as they create.