Changes

Beach Series #3

Acrylic

16 x 16

Hi All,

Carlynne and I have a friend, another artist, who is traveling alone in a foreign country because she has been feeling drawn to this particular area for some time. We have heard from her briefly by email and it sounds like it is a life changing experience for her, as I imagine it might be for anyone. I think this is a brave thing to do considering the times we live in, but I also believe we have to do what we have to do. As artists, our work is affected by so many things, what we see and feel, world events, losses, change of all types. We must be open to change and new directions in order to grow as artists. I have never been very brave but am working on doing things that are outside my comfort zone.

When I look at my beach series, I feel that this is what I am supposed to be doing right now. It is very different from what we did in the book. The funny thing is that when the book came out recently, everyone was, and still is interested in talking about the realistic work on paper that the book is about. I feel like that is history now, that I have moved on and am doing something else. I know I will go back to it sometime, but right now, I am into texture. Publishing is a slow process and by the time the book was on the shelf, we were both doing very different work. We don't much like labels, but we sometimes call ourselves experimental artists and as that name implies, we are always doing something new.

Change can be scary and it can be exciting. For myself, I want to always be open to change, even if I am afraid. I want to push the envelope of the world I currently live in and find out what is out there that I might want to do or see. And I know that this will show up in my artwork.

Love, and peace to you all,
and especially to you Merrill,
wherever you are right now.

Kelli