Homegrown

Bainbridge Arts And Crafts – JULY 2011 EXHIBITION

Artist Statement, 1 June 2011

Home for me for the past 35 years has been Bainbridge Island. I have been exhibiting at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts since 1981, which makes me a very LOCAL artist. We have lived in the same house for that long renovating this old 40s summer home.If you were to come to our house, the first thing you would see (in three seasons) would be the flowers, and the first thing you would hear would be the chickens. So this is the content of this latest exhibition at BAC.I have always enjoyed painting the flowers, since they are so abundant here. Flowers can be very powerful, and I choose to make them bursting with this power and life. They are amazing light catchers so I wait until they are in the perfect light and accent this in every way I can. I love to balance this power with their fragility and translucence.I have raised chickens for the past 30 years. The first batch lived in my studio until a coop was finally built. I have actually gone through three coops over the years. The one I have now is a statement of whimsy built by a local wood artist and friend.Chickens make me smile. They are very easily anthropomorphized because they interact together in entertaining ways like people. The paintings in this exhibition illustrate this interaction and will hopefully make the viewers smile as well.

I dedicate this light and whimsical exhibition to my friends and neighbors here on Bainbridge, many of whom have had difficult times, and to Bainbridge Arts and Crafts who have been more than wonderful to me…and to our new Winslow…may you be done soon!

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