". . . a brush with nature"

Take time to be aware…take time to notice what’s around you … then your creativity will start to flow. 
This is a great piece of advice that I recently read somewhere and would like to share with you.

To that end, all I have to do is study (and enjoy) the forest around me as I walk between our home and my studio each day.

 I love ravens. They are everywhere around us in our woods…great numbers of them flying through the trees and gathering as groups on the forest floor. They are beautiful, fascinating to watch, very large and certainly loud. They are extremely intelligent beings and one of the many creatures of the forest I feel compelled to paint.

Recently I completed several paintings featuring the ravens from our woods. One, in particular, was jointly inspired by the birds themselves and the beautiful poppies growing beside my studio. I’ve always loved poppies, too, so my husband planted some for me a few years back. They are always a joy to see standing bright and tall by my studio door.

I knew the combination of the flowers and bird would be powerful, both in concept and color. I chose to set everything against an extremely dark background, which I believe increases the dramatic effect of this painting. I am also pleased with the movement within the composition. . . the way the blooms of the poppies and the pods seem to encircle and “dance” with my raven. 

Another artist, upon viewing this painting, commented, “Cool with the use of close values… I loved how it pulled me in searching for more. Great job.”

I AM an artist. Not a famous artist like some, but certainly not a hobbyist, either. I am very serious about my art. I am driven. I feel a great, often overwhelming need to go to my studio every day to work on a piece . . . to be involved with my own creative process. I need to take the tiny steps (often tentative at first) that eventually become more comfortable to me as I put the time in. Those small steps eventually begin to feel natural as I practice them again and again on the new painting that is in front of me.

I am an artist teaching myself something new each and every day, by exploration, experimentation, trial and error (LOTS of that) and hours spent in front of my easel or at my drawing desk creating art about the subjects I love. 

As an artist, I strive to capture the essence and spirit of those subjects in my paintings. I want to learn what makes them unique . . . what makes them special. I want to “hear” their stories and then I want to be able to share those stories with you through my work.

I recently read an article that said, “Real” artists never stop learning to paint.”

I think that’s true. I AM a “real” artist that still has so much to learn. So much to learn about my subjects, my techniques and about creating art in general. It’s a good thing that every day presents a brand-new opportunity to do so.