Here and There

There is an eternal landscape, a geography of the soul; we search for its outlines all our lives. -Josephine Hart

 

ill-meet-you-there
Here and There
encaustic
18×18 inches

I have long wanted to paint landscapes. Even though we live in the burbs now, the lifestyle of my family is one of the outdoors. We go hiking as often as we can and our vacations revolve around traveling to places to explore nature. Whether it is oceanscapes or mountainscapes, even the flatlands of the prairie, I find myself in awe of the beauty of this earth. The longing of a having a place that I belong to is often answered when I am outdoors. I think that art is an extension of the lives we live and it is these experiences that I find myself trying to express. I want to capture the feeling of the landscape rather than the actual landscape. When I first started painting, I painted landscapes in oils, as I said nature has always been my source of inspiration. I only did a few before I started really getting into mixed media. This time around I’m going to be going larger, some will be in encaustic, some in oils or acrylic. I have a lot of large canvases that have traveled with me since I lived in Seattle and I’m determined to fill them.

The painting above was inspired by the landscape north of Chicago. This poem below reminds me so much of the openness of the land in the midwest.

…I walk here and there, seeking open,
flat spaces against a sky up high.
I have discovered, too late, perhaps
that I always preferred the empty
more than the full
for breathing and forgiving.
– Teresa Palomo Acosta

 

I will still be doing some of my more abstracted works. I am restless like that. I like to work on different things at the same time. I even have an idea for some bookart that I would really like to explore.

8 Comments

  1. I bought Trish’s book yesterday specifically to see your article. Remember that I missed your class on Whidbey? I signed on for that class about 3 in the morning and cancelled at 4. They wouldn’t return a dime. Enjoy your new direction.

    1. Thanks Binky. Hope you like it. Let me know if you have any questions. I’m sorry to hear about the nonrefund, I didn’t know that.

  2. Bridgette, you have a gift for writing, I know your life isn’t so serene, but your writing always is. There’s nothing so intriguing to me as to see the different movements an artist may take, or make. I love watching that experimentation, that spirit of play. Keep up the good work! (My eyes widened at “bookart”! Not to mention “large canvases”..!) Inspiring!

  3. Beautiful piece! I love the quote, too. I live in the Canadian prairies and I love the solitude of the vast open spaces here.

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