I
find immense joy in painting, but at times there is a lot of frustration and
doubt. It’s such a mixed bag of emotions
as a painting comes to life. When I get
an idea, an inspiration, I am so excited, I can hardly wait to start. The monochromatic starts to take shape and my
excitement grows. Then the colour, and
more excitement, then….the doubt and frustration creeps in as the painting goes
from promising to unappealing, but as the work progresses something happens. Another transformation, from ugly duckling to
beautiful swan and the excitement is back; the motivation is high. Finally, when I am finished, the excitement is
still there; I am so happy to be done, I’ve put my heart and soul, not to mention
countless hours, into the painting. But
then, something else happens, and the excitement turns to worry, doubt is back,
and I work some more, then happy once again.I tell you, sometimes I think I’m going to get whiplash from going from one emotion to another as I work on a painting. Sometimes, I really wonder why this life of an artist is so appealing; I can’t really explain it. If I’m perfectly honest with myself, I can’t even imagine wanting to do anything else. There is a calling deep inside my soul that keeps saying, paint, just paint. So, I paint.
No matter where I am on this emotional rollercoaster as an artist, I feel so blessed to be doing what I am doing. So happy to be able to pick up my paint brush and put oil to canvas, so grateful. When the doubt creeps in, I know I just have to keep going, because at the end of the day it’s about the beauty and the peace my art brings to me, and hopefully to the audience who sees it, to the people who buy it.
It’s not easy being an artist, but it is so worth the emotional journey of each painting.
Up coming solo show at the:
Northern Alberta Jubilee, Alcove Gallery, Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada
November 25, 2019 to January 27, 2020
The
Polar Bear
Opening
reception date to be announced.
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