The Levi Backfield Painting

Watercolor and India Ink In my paintings, everything flows together. Diverse colors, lines and shapes - People, places, plants and things are woven into one harmoniously functional ecosystem. I want to subtly remind viewers that we humans, in all our diversity, are essentially interconnected, and with thoughtfulness, can function together harmoniously as well. How I work... When I start a painting, I turn on some music or an audiobook, sit down with a blank sheet of paper and choose whether to begin with black ink, watercolor paint, pencil or tape. I rely on improvisation and a stream of consciousness approach to let my life's experiences bubble up and flow out as shapes and lines, colors and textures. When things go badly, I remind myself that every painting I make seems to reach a point of failure. I keep going and things get better. I am most happy when the work seems to create itself. After each layer of paint, ink or masking tape, I stand back. I watch. I wait. Sometimes I wait days, weeks, or even years to add another layer. This process of painting and contemplation is always happening in my studio with many different pieces in many stages of completion. Eventually the paintings reach their maximum level of energy and flow. Finished! Why I paint… ​ I paint to share what is on my mind and heart. I paint to find out what will come next and... After nearly three decades of making and showing paintings, I have recently come to understand my role as that of an Artist/Shaman as elucidated in the work of Joseph Campbell. Briefly, this means to me, that my job is to share my visions of an interconnected, peaceful and beautiful world with others. I have created a life mission to help guide my actions: I create a world of beauty and bounty by generously sharing my visions of Oneness. ​ My work is also an exploration of what Buddhist Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh has called ‘Interbeing’. “If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either.” - Thich Nhat Hanh.