The Art of Joy
On display in the south gallery
of the Columbia Art League
8/10/26 - 9/5/26
reception 8/20/26 5:30 pm - 7 pm
brief artist talk 6 pm
Oh Happy Day!
Artist Statement for The Art of Joy
For the length of my art-making years, I have wanted my art to uplift, enliven, and bring joy. My art changes and evolves but one thing stays the same. I aim to add to the store of goodness available in the world and counteract all of the terrible things that bombard us and make happiness, contentment, and joy so hard to keep in our hearts. Thus, “The Art of Joy.”
I once wrote, “When I was a child, I dreamed that my head was a railway station filled with conductors, ticketsellers, and people coming and going to faraway places, with trains rolling in and chugging out. My head is even more full now, much like an old woman’s closet, cluttered with boxes, pots, and jars holding all the colors, shapes, and words that make up my work.”
Now I am that old-ish woman with not just a closet but an entire studio spilling over with every kind of thing an artist could want. It’s a mess but a jolly one. My head too is “even more full now,” with all of the life I’ve lived, the pictures I’ve seen or made, the places I’ve been, the people I’ve met and loved, the experiences I’ve treasured. Children, now grown to be men but still “my boys,” take up a giant space; siblings, all of us now turning grey; beloved dogs come and gone; the many little and big triumphs and heartbreaks of a normal life; dreams and aspirations softened, changed, some realized, others set aside, one or two still alive. I do have longings for places like Italy, the south of France, Cornwall, Greece, imagining myself painting in some seaside village for weeks at a time. Words, for now, are separate from my art, but never very far away, and who knows, things change. I change. My art continues to evolve. I may be older but I am a young painter and an ever eager artist and writer, always on the lookout fornew knowledge, fresh ideas, another thread to follow, one more beautiful adventure.
About The Artworks
So here you go. I’ve set out to make joy visible. I celebrate the small things that vibrate and hum in nature, in life, in me, in my dreams, those simple bits of grace that delight and strengthen. These collages are made from gel prints that I’ve cut up and pieced together, without a substrate, to suggest humble, quietly merry stories. They embody many of the things I love--color, shapes, trees, animals, birds, home. They are floating in their frames; they just did not want to be glued down. They want to make you smile and forget about the woes of the world. Houses float in the air, as if Dorothy has brought her whole family with her to Oz. Henri Matisse, who took up residence in my brain so many years ago, is here, too, cutting up painted paper with his large scissors. And last but not least, loads of color! All this fabulous color! How would life be if we only saw in black and white? I hate to think.
If these pieces do not sing with joy, I don’t know what does. Enjoy them. Love your life! Revel in who you are. Love the moments of your days.
