The inspiration for humans to make art is fascinating to me. Where does the desire to do it come from? How does the artist know what to make or how to make it? And how does an artist achieve the undefinable mystery of a successful work?
There's the conceptualizing, the influences, the skills, and the education of the artist, that of course starts the process and gives you a modicum of confidence to even try, but it's those moments of not knowing, of doubting, of being frozen in your tracks and considering giving it all up that lead to the real magic. That's when you have no choice but to just start. Just make a stab at it. Just follow an inner prompting, an inkling, a guess at where to make the mark, of what color to use - this creates the energy of the finished work. The success of a painting depends upon allowing the decisions made in those shaky moments and keeping the judging, rational, educated mind quiet. These paintings are a letting-go to this process and seeing what comes up.
Early European Renaissance painting is the primary stylistic influence of my work. Its reverent portrayal of Christian spiritual tenets and stories is akin, in my opinion, to the spiritual connection tapped into in the creative process of making art.
The paintings portray a woman creating something, or seeding her imagination with reading or dreaming, and light is pouring through the window from nature, a symbol of the creative source of life. I reference the myth of Danae and the story of the Virgin Mary. Many of my paintings are inspired by the story of the Annunciation - a female human, fertile biologically and spiritually, is interacting with light, the divine energy that brings all things about, in an environment filled with creations (rugs, paintings, furniture) and surrounded by Nature. She is inspired to create something and is a creation herself, part of the natural world.
Including the work of other artists I admire in my paintings is a way of feeling connected to the esprit de corps of artists throughout history, and thoroughly examining their work through copying it deepens my admiration.