I’ve got a show of my pastels and oil paintings at a local shop, La Terra Natural Oils (olive oil and vinegar), that is, in essence, a retrospective of my efforts to learn to paint what I see. As the opening on Friday approaches I find myself imagining talking about the work.

My primary goal is to be in conversation with folks about what the pieces touch in them. In the bio/artist statement that I’ve prepared for the show I say,

Each painting is an artifact of the process that created it; the place, time, model and the artist channeling experience consciously and unconsciously using the skills achieved at that moment. I’ve done dream work for a number of years and let the associations between objects in my paintings arise from the unconscious, adding what ‘feels’ right. In dream groups when we talk about another’s shared dream we say, “If this were my dream….”

Rather than dictate the experience, I am most interested in what the viewer feels, his or her reaction to the images, the ‘aha’ moment when a personal connection happens. Please tell me, “If this were my painting….”

So I hope viewers will share their experiences and we can let the paintings be a medium of dialogue. One thing about putting your stuff out there is the fear of judgement. But I’m getting old and life is too short to worry about that. Then there are folks who praise the work and talk about how they “can’t draw a straight line”. And this leads to thoughts about how we learn to do anything. 

When we are inspired to grow in a certain direction we seek the lessons where we can find them. Some people have the opportunity to learn in a structured classroom setting, others like myself find books or mentors* or YouTube videos and especially the surprising and confounding process of trial-and-error. It’s the process that makes the painting, ultimately. So for me I choose to let the thrill of channeling the muse drive my efforts forward and rather than judge the results too harshly, take each piece as a record of progress and start all over again on the next one, seeking guidance from any source that presents itself.

*we are all each others’ mentors.