I was sitting on the floor surrounded by tubes of oil paint, canvases and palette knives. I can’t answer why I paint abstract paintings sitting on the floor, I just do. Maybe I feel more grounded to my surroundings. I painted three 5 x 7 abstract oil paintings that day. Completely mesmerized by the feel of the paint with the noisy swoosh that a palette knife makes on a canvas. Think of a kitten licking your hand and that sandpapery feeling. I can hear that. Painting with a palette knife is relaxing and rhythmic as I go over the canvas, a horizontal mark, a vertical mark, change color then lay a larger swath of paint. I continue this action over and over until I’m satisfied that the canvas and I have finished our conversation.
The last painting however, that canvas and I had a moment. I realized as I was painting this canvas that I’m All In. This is where I’m going in this later stage of my life. I’m a visual artist.
The weight of that realization didn’t hit me until I signed up for the Montco Studio Tour that took place in September 2021. What was my conversation going to look like with the public? How was I going to explain how I feel about these pieces of artwork in front of us? Would anyone even like a painting by me? Would they feel what I feel as they look at the finished artwork? So many questions that ran through my head, of course the loudest statement that I kept hearing was I don’t want to make a fool of myself. I had to keep throwing cold water on that thought. The cold water won and I survived the Montco Studio Tour. In fact, people did want to see and hear what the canvas and I had to say.
Katherine