Meditative Escape Painting

I love connecting with others about art. I like to hear other people's stories and perspectives. Don't be shy to connect with me on my social sites, where you can see in-progress work, videos about the process and my studio, and writing. As an artist, the process of creating is a tool for me for self-understanding and expression. I go to paint without an idea of what I'm going to do, but rather with trust that I'm going to learn about myself in the process of starting, developing, and completing a painting. I make paintings that I love and that I need in my life. My thoughts, emotions, recent visual inspiration from living, conscious application of techniques and sub-conscious revelations of a deeper part of me all come together, every time, in the process and in the final image. The process of creating encodes the memory for me. Any piece of mine, I can recall where I was, what was going on in my life, and often even details of what I was listening to. Creating is a memory machine for me. The other half of creating takes place away from the canvas, in the act of living. I am always intently looking, trying to understand. What is it that is making the sunset so special, just why does this flower capture me? Is there a universal visual language? I am looking for that connection and know I am getting somewhere when someone viewing the work relates a story from their life to me, unprompted, that relates to the theme I was working through in the work. Georgia O'Keefe has been a lifelong influence. I first recall stashing a library book of her flowers under my bed as an elementary school student, fearing that the sensuality of the images would somehow get me in trouble. Helen Frankenthaler is another artist I am drawn to. If you read more in my biography, you may see some parallels in our lives and why she is an inspiration to me. Many of the Saatchi abstract artists that presented in the 2021 Sydney Virtual Fair inspired and influenced my subsequent 2021 painting collection, most notably Dinah Wakefield. My philosophy on art is largely attributable to Alain de Botton's book, Art as Therapy. He shifts the focus on art's importance from an intellectual act of knowing dates and trivia to speaking humanly about how art serves our needs to capture memory, have hope, be comforted in our sorrow, create balance in our lives, understand ourselves, express ourselves, foster appreciation in our daily living, and to grow.