The other day a stranger looking at my watercolors said, "You
must love nature!" I couldn't think of a better compliment of my work, nor one
that better describes why I paint. This love has been a part of me for as long as I
can remember. As a kid, long hikes around our Colorado ranch turned into marvelous
adventures, always leaving me with an even greater desire to explore creation. My
dad, a sculptor, and my mom, an inspirational admirer of beauty, often pointed out
nature's wonders so that we could celebrate them together. Whether it be the pattern
of lichen on jagged rocks, the spots on an Aspen's trunk, or the swirl of the wind, I
became aware at an early age that these were gifts waiting to be received.
When majoring in
Fine Art, I dabbled in all kinds of media and began to develop skills that later allowed me to express
what really moved me and made me tick. After receiving my BA in Fine Art from
Westmont College in Santa Barbara, I taught elementary art for three years in Eagle
Colorado before taking a three-month sabbatical on the Navajo Reservation. It was in
the desert that I began to truly rediscover my love of nature and its value to me as a
person and artist. Before I knew
it, three months in Arizona became three years. I ended up living on both the Navajo
and Hopi reservations, painting, teaching and becoming a student of the land and the
friends I made there. The Navajo's and Hopi’s respect for art, nature and the
Creator drove me to recognize and honor my own ties to creation and creativity. During
this time I was also working on a Master’s degree in Psychology, which ideally
allowed me to study how art can help connect our souls with creation and God. When I
came back to Colorado in 2001, I was eager to paint images, thoughts and feelings gathered
from the mountains I call home.
I cannot begin
to explain all I have learned from painting nature. After several failed watercolor
attempts, my first successful paintings ended up being of wildflowers. My
preliminary portrayals of flowers were fairly realistic renderings of the plants, with
little attention to their personalities. But the more I painted flowers the more I
fell in love with them, and I began painting not just what my eyes saw in front of me, but
what my heart felt. I am not sure when or how this break-through happened, but it
has since transferred to all my nature-portraits. Whether I’m painting a blooming
cactus, a child, a feather or a mountain, I paint not only how the object looks, but also
what it says to me.
On the days I am
not painting, I still prefer to be out wandering the countryside
around our ranch. Sometimes I am lucky enough to have my nieces
with me. To me, children are constant reminders of the awesomeness
of the creative process, and of all that is at stake when we turn our
backs on it. They remind me that I must put on my
kid-eyes and explore. Come celebrate the wonders with us!
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