"I decided that if I could paint a flower in a huge scale, you could not ignore its beauty." Georgia O'Keeffe
So many different things inspire me to paint. I have several paintings in my head just waiting to come out. A lot of times it's a Texas country drive that inspires me or a walk. Sometimes it's a song, a movie, a book or just listening to someone talk. Not all my paintings make it onto facebook or instagram. I throw away some, give away some... or just stick it in the closet while I try and forget about it.
Sometimes I'm embarrassed about my inspiration. Sometimes I see things as a painting in my head while I'm looking at it. Either way, most of the time, my paintings are an enlarged or exaggerated view of my idea. I love whimsical things, things out of proportion, new colors, imaginative, but especially large. I appreciate Georgia O'Keeffe's enlarged paintings... I love that she put herself out there in a world that wasn't quite ready for a contemporary enlarged flower, a floating skull, or a naked dark tree. It's artist like her that paved the way for artists like me. On that note I have so many other artists I would like to thank, but for now, Vincent Van Gogh... really stole my heart and THANK YOU for being so brave. His artistic take on the world is incredible.
Painting can be very therapeutic, but putting myself out there, showing my paintings and selling them is vulnerable.
This new painting is just the thing. I finished it yesterday morning. Felt like it needs an explanation. It's a whimsical enlarged painting of cotton. Why? Well, a few things led me to this... first, every time we take a road trip to Santa Fe and we see cotton on the side of the road I stop, and pick some for the kids (and myself) to look at and play with. I love driving by all the cotton fields. On the way home from Santa Fe it feels like a warm Texas Welcome to drive by all the cotton blowing in the wind, with cotton all over the side of the road. Second, (this is the embarrassing part), I went into the cutest store in Dripping Springs called "High Cotton" and then could NOT get this song "High Cotton" out of my head... FOR THREE DAYS THAT DANG SONG WAS IN MY HEAD, ALL THE WHILE THINKING I SHOULD PAINT COTTON! Third, sometimes the only way to get my head to leave me alone is to go with it... So, here is my painting. "Texas Snow" I think it's appropriate I painted it while living in Driftwood at my mom's house for the summer. Now, my head is telling me to paint it again... this was just practice... I think I know what to do different next time... So, probably gonna do another one soon.
