My work was featured at BluePrint in Dallas in May. If you haven’t been to BluePrint, you should visit either online or at their beautiful store/gallery at 2707 Fairmount Street. So proud to be associated with these wonderfully talented designers...
Below is a recent exchange featured on their blog with a preview of work presented at the show.
when someone walks into your show, what do you hope they will grasp or enjoy about your paintings/art?
that’s a hard question to articulate. i make the work according to my sense and love of color. i also consider balance and marks that make sense for a particular piece…… eventually i come to a point of completion. i have no expectation from the viewer. since my work is non objective, there is truly not something for the viewer to “get”. it’s a matter of personal interpretation. i enjoy tremendously, though, when the viewer – for whatever reason, finds that a piece resonates with them. someone who bought a painting once told me that whenever she passed through the room where the painting hung she felt a sense of joy and energy. i loved that comment. that’s what i feel when i’m having a good work day. it’s a nice feeling knowing something i’ve made brings joy. not bad…
why art?
it’s been a lifelong passion. i barely remember when it started and it’s never waned.
what do you consider most integral to the work of an artist?
honesty to a personal vision. never stick your finger to the wind to see what others are doing. make your own mark.
if you had to choose a favorite piece from your collection, what would it be and why?
it’s always the one i’m working on at the time. as soon as i’m finished, i let them go and move forward.
do you ever teach? if so what is the main thing you want to to pass along to your students?
i have taught. i taught at the university of texas of the permian basin and in grad school at texas tech. i think i was an effective teacher and what i mostly wanted to give students were the tools to help them in their own work. i loved connecting with students who loved the journey as much as i do. ultimately, though, i did not want to teach. i wanted to do my work. i found teaching exhausting and by the time i planned, taught, graded, and dealt with all the other extraneous things involved in teaching, i had nothing left for me. now i just work in my studio.
what jobs have you done other than being an artist?
legal secretary, miscellaneous office work, i owned a clothing store.
what is your artistic outlook on life?
art is not necessarily something you make. it’s a way of life.
name something you love, and why.
a drink on the dock about 5:00 every afternoon. the why part needs no explanation! {we agree, joyce!}
name three people you’d like to be compared to, and why.
hard to narrow it down to three! ask me the same question tomorrow and i’ll give you a different answer. but for today……
joan mitchell – because I love her work.
annie Lamott – love reading her words and reading how she interprets her world and life events. love how she rolls with the punches.
georgia o’keefe – i loved her determination to live according to her rules. loved her independence. loved those qualities more than her work, actually, although her work is how I came to know of her.
what is the best piece of life advice you’ve been given?
someone wise once told me “you are no better than anyone else and nobody else is any better than you.” i won’t fill you in on the context of that conversation – but that comment goes with me every time i am forced into a situation where I might be tempted to feel nervous or insecure. it was one of those simple comments that was said at exactly the time i needed to hear it. funny how that works.
another friend who is very religious and lives her life in that context told me the same thing – just in a different way. she said “the ground is level at the foot of the cross.” indeed, it is.
that must be something i need to hear often because i keep hearing it in different ways. read a quote from Ram Dass the other day – “we are all just walking each other home.” so true.