Transmutation
I would be lying if I told you that the first few months of this year have been easy. Without getting into a lot of personal detail, this January through March especially have felt heavy and difficult. I needed to disappear and to take space to be with my own soul, to reflect and be present for something long held.
While in the first month of the year, I took a break from creating much at all — this was more beneficial than I’d ever thought it would be — the last two months have been filled with new work. In a way, I found my own rhythm in using painting as a means of transmuting emotional and physical pain into something new, just for the sake of moving it. I have been stepping back to examine this body of work that has formed in these cold and dreary months and what I noticed was that there is a quality quite free and expansive that runs through each of these pieces. I can tell now that these paintings were a way for me to move emotions that felt heavy and confining. I couldn’t stop creating these wide, open, colorful skies, and swaying grasses. I think I felt stuck so I created movement somewhere else. It made me feel free, if only for a moment.
This experience of using art to transmute discomfort and suffering was revolutionary for me. In the past there has always been some element of the pieces that were for someone, or something else. The creative process for these existed fully and totally for me. I think I used to resist this a bit. I felt that if I was creating art for myself, that no one would want it, that there would be too much of me in it. But I think, especially in the world we live in now, we need art with soul, with heart, with longing and awareness for something greater.
Coming soon…
I’ve added a little gallery of these paintings below for you to peruse. I am planning on launching them in my online shop in May. If you’re interested in any of them, please contact me here! They are currently unframed. Otherwise, keep an eye on your inbox for the launch! If you are not on my mailing list, you can sign up here!
“Carried Away”
12”x6” original watercolor
“Spring Ritual”
16”x12” original watercolor
“Somewhere Far from Here”
8”x10” original watercolor
“North Shore Light”
12”x9” original watercolor
“Ravens’ Winter Dance”
14”x20” original watercolor
“The Land Speaks”
16”x12” original watercolor and white gouache
“Free at Dusk”
8”x8” original watercolor
“January Sun”
12”x9” original watercolor
“Spring Frost”
16”x12” original watercolor and white gouache
“Boundary Waters Bliss”
12”x9” original watercolor
“Stopping to Dream”
20”x14” original watercolor
“Storm a’Brewin’”
12”x9” original watercolor and white gouache
“Up and Away”
20”x16” original watercolor