Acrylic on canvas

30” x 40”

2018

This commissioned painting is one of five in a body of work that now hangs in an insurance office, where the goal is to help their people feel protected, BE protected. In a similar way, this work is a product of me feeling supported and safe enough to stretch a little farther, play a little more, and take risks that are a little different than in other work I’ve made. Risks and challenges are essential aspects of continuing to make interesting and inspiring art, and I’m not sure how readily I would be able to keep striving for that if I felt unsupported or alone. I got the guts to paint these in a more playful way, using quite different color combinations and laying paint down boldly on top of other marks, because I was reminded that I am not alone. Now I’m left with a body of work that’s quite different than things I’ve painted recently and it’s work that I’m pleasantly surprised by. Continuing to involve my love of nature, this time I added in some more playful ways of referencing rain and lakes and sunsetty blossoms. 

Since I often see the lessons of artmaking mirrored pretty perfectly in metaphors of my life, these days I’m paying attention to this idea of being able to uncover and dig in to new things when we feel supported. I recently experienced this in my marriage: I could verbalize that I was starting to explore and challenge some unhelpful things I have believed emotionally and spiritually, because I find such a safe place in my husband. When we feel held by another, cheered on by another, safe with another, it helps us more readily risk and challenge and explore, becoming better than we were before.

In boldly exploring emotions and paint palettes, and in risking pain and “messing up” paintings, this process has reminded me to keep being vulnerable, so that our safe people can know when we need support, to keep trying to be a safe place for others to feel secure, and to play more, risk more, explore more...because, really, we are not alone.