Boldness

“Boldness be my friend.” 
― William Shakespeare

     I like to paint.  When people ask me, "So what kind of paintings do you do?" the words that always comes to mind are abstract and BOLD.   Clearly abstract works to describe what I like to do with paints.  Seldom do I paint something that is representational.  In other words, I am not about painting realistic pieces.  I often paint the conversation that is in my head.  I frequently  paint what I found in my night time dreams.  There are many times when I have no clue about what it is I am painting.

     My work is seldom soft, warm, and fuzzy.  Generally speaking, the colors are vivid, the texture is rich and sometimes harsh.  On occasion, there is an edginess, sometimes a starkness about the works.  My paintings can be infused with playfulness, anger, despair, fear, confusion, joy, and more.  Pretty much they all have one thing in common:  boldness.

      And I find it both amusing and perplexing that boldness shows up in my paintings.  There is nothing bold about me or my life.  I live in a conventional home, in a conventional small town.  I have a conventional job, a retired and conventional husband, two conventional children, and two conventional mutts.  Boldness implies audacity, courage, adventurousness, maybe even brazen.   I wish I could say I were any of those things.  Instead, I mostly feel like a robot that has marched through a predictable life. Maybe the boldness of my artwork is the me who wishes she were someone else.

   Just for fun, I am adding some photos of original work.  The colors tend to be muted on the computer screen so use your imagination to amplify what you see and you might get an idea of the real deal.  Most of these paintings are 18" x 24" unframed (which translates to typically about 25" x 32" framed). The size only magnifies the boldness - a big wall is required for hanging.