Synesthesia Inspirations
I have synesthesia. In the same way that a memory may be evoked by a smell, for me visual imagery accompanies everything I hear, touch, and feel emotionally. The creative impetus for these abstract watercolor paintings arrived via the interconnections within my own neural wiring, which bring the physical and non-physical together.
Watercolor as Collaboration
I delight in watching each shape "appear" as I am painting it. Imagine walking into a room full of people. The shapes change and are changed by their environment simply by showing up. Each painting brings together shapes and the space between them playfully. Each is a tiny, spontaneous, and unrepeatable world.
I love to use granulating watercolors, adding texture and movement to unexpected and harmonious color combinations.
I’ve often wished I didn’t have to put my watercolor paintings behind glass. So I learned a process of varnishing watercolor, which allows me to frame them without glass or mount them directly on wood panels. Now I can give the viewer a more intimate experience with these paintings.
Inner Workings
In addition to my synesthesia, my paintings are also inspired by a decades long interest in psychology, what helps us feel safe enough to lean into curiosity and vulnerability. For example, Internal Family Systems, which offers tools to understand the interplay between our core Self and the various "parts" of our psyche.
Through this lens, I see the blank paper as the Self, that within us that is both full of heart and possibility. Painting mirrors the dialogue between Self and the rest of me... One part seeks meticulous planning, while another just wants to play with paint and color.
In these paintings maybe you can see how I balance my Trickster’s impulse for bold disruption with my Manager’s desire for ordered beauty. All the while Self observes, letting each shape and color organically integrate.
