The Big Reveal

A little explanation...

Our education program at the gallery this summer is inviting contributing artists to make their art on-site, allowing visitors to see them at work and experience a little of what goes on behind the scenes.

As a contributing artist I finished this painting at the gallery. I was finally able to get in and get a picture of it, but I didn't even notice until I downloaded the pic that there is a big shadow over the sky! I hope you'll be able to tell it's not part of the painting :-}

So, may I present... "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow"



I originally called it "Oregon Grain Mill" because that is what I was seeing when I took the picture. It was a nostalgic moment and I wanted to capture it and experience those memories through the canvas.

Because of my initial focus I was going to edit out the street light and the windmills in the distance. But as I worked on it I realized that I couldn't be content with a simple romantic scene. I paint symbolism.

Therefore I chose to leave those elements in and the scene became more than a memory. It became a moment of seeing what was in the grain mill, what is in the railing and the street sign, and what our future holds as we continue to find ways to care for Mother Earth in her old age.

I have a hard time living in the moment. I am a recovering perfectionist and tend to obsess and worry. One of my favorite quotes is, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that's why they call it the present." This painting makes me think of that. I am enamored with the romance of yesterday. Today isn't all that pretty, and tomorrow is so far in the distance that I can't really see it clearly.

Sometimes I would much rather relive the past. But as I chose to make this painting more about the moment, so I re-decide to focus on right here, right now, with all that it brings - the good, the bad, and the ugly.