Tim Terman

I'm recently retired and now have opportunity to paint daily. What fun! Working with pastels gives me so many options for color and texture that I am not at all jealous of my friends who paint in watercolors or oils. I live near the Atlantic coast and have done my share of boats and shore birds, but of late I've been exploring how an artist can let a painting develop without a plan, without a purpose, standing alone as color, value and form with as little intervention as possible. While I have noticed that the painting will not paint itself, no matter how long I sit in my chair and stare, I have found that somehow suggestions come to me, rather than the other way about. Not always successful, but almost always engaging. Years ago I was in the WVU library stacks, looking into Inca art. One carving by a long ago Inca artist, a cup ornamentation, it turned out, struck me. I decided to copy it, much enlarged, in acrylic. During that process, I am convinced, the spirit of that artist entered me, and now I am giving over my talent, such as it is, to those spirits. As one of the ancients said, "Sing through me Muse," or something to that effect.

I was in art school but didn't learn much. My art history class was a revelation, though. I'd go back and watch those slide shows again, the voice of the professor in the dimly lit classroom sounding rather bored as she gave us the tour from Greece and Rome through Caravaggio and Vermeer to Klimt and Schwitters. She may have been bored; I was not.
Left art and graduated in journalism, but never got too far away from art. By the by, thanks to Saatchi Art for building this. It's been easy to create my account, and, who knows, someone out there might like my work and buy something. That helps an artist carry on. Not that I need the money, but because I don't know what to do with all the material I've created these past years. Well, these here are some of my best. I listed some of my paintings in the "mythologic" motif category. Seemed to fit there. I have an interest also in drumming and percussion, which has led to some readings about pre-Christian religions. This has led me to consider the concept of religion, trying to find some basis in my own viewpoints. I hope that my paintings do show some of this.

I was a member of the local artist cooperative at the Franklin Square Gallery in downtown Southport, NC, and had my paintings hanging there.