Ever the Student
Art Gallery

Drawing and painting are a means to achieve flow state; a channeling meditative state. It is renewing. It is a communication of the heart. 

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A substitute teacher in elementary school told us that when we look at the leaves on a tree, the leaves are not just green. The leaves contain every color. This is true of everything. Sage advice that has literally colored my art from that day forward. Including a host of disparate colors into my art brings a depth and an energy.  

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I took art in high school, mainly drawing, and a few drawing classes in college long long ago. I've had no formal training. It just comes through me.

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In 2017 I began using chalk pastels as a means of improving my neuroplasticity. Creative processes encourage brain health and improve function. With the exception of some displays I created for an educational project at work, I had taken a few decades hiatus from drawing.

Pastels let me pile and mix color. I like to use my fingers to move the pigments.  Pastels are my first art love. 

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In 2020 I began to paint. I do not use a paint brush. I use acrylics with a pallet knife, Q-tips, cotton balls, my finger, plastic wrap and sometimes a toothbrush. There is life in these paintings; a sense of excitement. They are what sprang from the canvas as I started pushing and layering colors.  I did refer to a few photos here and there for guidance, but primarily, they are my own.

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Why no paintbrush? I like to flex my resourcefulness muscle; to find more creative ways to do things.  One day, when I finally use a paintbrush, it will probably feel like cheating. 

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It has been a great challenge to release my need for hyper realism.  Admittedly, I need to remind myself to let go with each painting.  I have grown because of it. 

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Are they for sale? Good question. My emotional attachment will wane when I receive a good offer or I run out of wall space. Yes. The answer is "yes".

Click on the images below. Share my joy.