solo art show prep

"And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul." - John Muir

Life has taken quite a few new turns since my last post. There is definitely quite a lot to tell about the last year and half and I'll do my best to get us caught up over the next several weeks. Essentially, in a nutshell, I just needed to step away from it all and 'figure things out', and boy, am I glad I did! It's amazing how much healing and self-awareness can take place when you learn to breathe again. 

Fast-forward to today. In two days, I will be at the opening reception of my first solo art show! The opening reception will be at DAAS CO-OP Art Gallery & Gifts in conjunction with the monthly Fort Myers Art Walk event. How cool is that? 

Inspired by the John Muir quote "And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul", this series I have been working on titled "Into the Forest" weaves figurative and nature together, as well as smaller botanical works. The figurative paintings express bold strength and beauty while a gentle kindness emerges. Something I believe every woman carries inside. 

Each painting begins with a collaboration of materials and photography that, once combined with mark-making, paints and a number of other expressive materials, create a new story of life energy and soul. When I created my first piece that provoked this series, it was sort of an experimentation and exploration. My goal: not to be bound by any medium and I wanted to paint using an assemblage of layers of, well, all the materials. All of them because I love them all!! Acrylics, inks, pastels, monoprints, photo transfers, vintage ephemeral papers or any other method or medium that struck my fancy. How can you choose just one, right? I wasn't going to listen or be swayed by trends or the latest set of rules for artists. I was just going to pick up a paint brush and go! And I did and it was FANTASTIC!! 

....and here we are, a couple days away from my first solo show.