Ah, water; the life-giving, life-affirming and life-sustaining element, without which there would be no life, no growth, no “us.” I am a Pisces, born on the east coast and grew up 1 mile from the Atlantic Ocean. I moved away from the ocean in 1990 and still yearn for the sound of the sea, the damp air, the storms, the smell of salt, so ever-present that I don’t think I ever REALLY noticed that smell until I left and it was no longer there. New Mexico was a shallow sea, once upon a time. Perhaps that’s what keeps me sane here- the memory of the water in the land. Perhaps the land misses the sea as much as I do.
When I paint water, I am home. I feel bathed and cleansed in only the way water can accomplish. The tactile sensation of the pastels transports me to the sensuality of being bathed in that very water. I am seduced by the currents, the light bouncing off the waves. I want to recreate the emotion of the ocean: the safety and danger, all at once.
