Print Shop Opening: Stories behind the paintings
It’s been busy these last few weeks getting ready for the grand opening of the Print Shop, and I’ve really enjoyed spending time with these paintings again. All of them were made in the three years or so leading up to my first collection release last spring, and very much intertwined with my journey of embracing myself as an artist.
There’s so much I get to experience in the process of painting that fills me with inspiration and encouragement. I thought I’d share a few of the stories behind the paintings that are part of this first print series.
First up, “Tree Song”
One night a few years ago, I was sitting at the kitchen counter and doodling while listening to a podcast. When the episode was over, I looked down and realized I had a fully fleshed out composition for a painting! I was so surprised because I never plan out paintings like that….and painting wasn’t even something I did much yet, though I wanted to.
The name “Tree Song” comes from a song by Ken Medema that I learned and loved in my childhood. In the song, a tree is responding to a question about how it has grown so tall and strong.
“I have roots growing down to the waters. I have leaves growing up to the sunshine. And the fruit that I bear is a sign of life in me.”
I always connect to those words, and wrote some of them in the early layers.
“Signs of Growth”
It was spring 2020 and I’d found a rhythm of painting in small moments between helping my kids manage school at home. I was working through a set of exercises to help with some mental blocks I was experiencing around painting, and had come to one focused on tuning in to intuition.
It had started well- the background colors came together beautifully and quickly. I was excited! Except, then…..nothing. I didn’t get any sense of what this painting was going to be. So, I decided to wait.
For weeks, I would come downstairs and look at this start of a beautiful painting, hoping for a sense of direction. And as I waited, that excitement turned to frustration and doubt. How ironic, I thought, that this painting, intended to be led by intuition, had come to a dead end.
Then, one morning, I came down to look at the painting again. And this time, instead of seeing a background, I saw the faintest hint of a flower- a bit of curve in the brushstrokes. So I painted that flower, and more followed, one by one. The rest of the painting continued on in that way. I never knew exactly where it was headed, but I would see one thing to try, and then would find one more.
I named this “Signs of Growth” because what I experienced in the process was guiding me to grow. I wanted this painting to come together quickly and easily, but instead it was teaching me to listen and wait.
“Enduring Love”
One of my favorite things in the process is when a painting gets new life the second time around.
Last fall, I was working on a special project that had turned into a muddled mess I couldn’t seem to get out of. It called for a fresh start, but I wasn’t in the mood to go all the way back to the beginning.
Looking around my studio space, I considered my options, and pulled out a wood panel from a pile of starts that had been set aside. I remembered this one. It was another one of those that had a promising start some time ago, and then had stalled. But it seemed the best choice, so I gathered some favorite supplies and began exploring. This time the shapes in the background provided a welcome springboard and the painting came together in a way I wouldn’t have planned.
This is the kind of thing that I most love in the creative process. When something that felt unsuccessful and unremarkable was just waiting for the right time to become what it was meant to be.
So often, it seems that in the process of creating I end up practicing the things I need in my life. Art is interesting that way! I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing more about the process in making some of the paintings now available in the Print Shop.