From Whim to Whimsy
On display in Central Bank of Boone County in downtown Columbia
May 17 - July 12, 2024
Artist Statement
On a whim, I decided I’d cut a twig from a tree and use it to paint my watercolor. I had seen something like this, I was curious to try. With the first few marks of color on paper, I loved how spontaneous and effortless my lines looked and felt. How the twig, being flexible, feels like it’s dancing over the paper and I really want to put on some music! The results were so different from a brush.
When I start a painting, I don’t have a plan or an idea, it’s just colors and movement. It’s more intuitive and reactive, open to imagination and letting go of control. I follow the paint through water, over and around other colors, letting colors blend as they will together on the paper.
It’s then the whimsy begins to show. I see where I can add detail with a small brush to take it farther along. Or where I’d start with an ink pen and go further still.
The painting is done when it’s done, and some paintings don’t make it. They lose momentum or a way forward. But for others, it seems to happen all of a sudden. It’s done and I can feel it. Sometimes it even reveals its title. And I love it when that happens!
Artist Bio
I have no art degree or any advanced study, I grew up on coloring books and paint-by-number sets and a desire to make things. Early on, I worked in furniture restoration and stained glass which gave me an appreciation for precision and attention to detail.
I took some MU art classes as an employee benefit while working a full-time job and a few workshops here and there, but this journey has been more of exploring and experimenting with the belief that I can figure it out.
I spent quite a few years working in mosaics and this is where I really began to work with my own ideas, opening the door to my own creative whims. But a time came when I felt constrained by this medium, and looking for a new challenge, I wanted to try painting.
I went back to basic pencil drawing and took a beginning watercolor class, which has all my attention now. It’s an exciting and entertaining journey.
