A series of paintings in response to the time spent in post production and posting the Beacons project on the computer! They were in process before, during and after the CO-VID 19 pandemic. A moment in history where many people spent a lot of time indoors, isolated and on the computer. Nature did trend during this time! Going out into nature was one of the recommended activities, as long as you kept your social distancing!

JOMO is a term where an individual is no longer concerned with missing out on the latest digital feeds of news and trends. Where a person is able to ‘let go’ of the digital world, take a step away and instead focus on the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of real life.

These paintings express the joy of physical motion, color and texture. They explore the genre of Action Painting, Splatter and Drip Art, Typography and Stenciling.

They all send a message of HOPE, PEACE and JOY. Natureistrending.

Artist Statement

These paintings are word based. They look at language construct and word meanings. They are also ‘action’ paintings – requiring large body movements and intense energy to create. The paintings contain the evidence of flinging and spraying paint, as well as gluing found objects, trash and recyclables. This creates a complexity of surface, which is then masked with letters and painted over to separate the background from the letterforms. Edge work is then carried out to complete the letters.

Conceptually, these paintings represent a number of social and educational ideas. One concept I think about is how learning to read is not the same for everyone. Language acquisition takes on different meanings for diverse learners and sometimes words, and spelling words do not make any sense at all.

Language de-coding skills take time, patience and practice.

A second concept I work with is more about social construct. I have noticed how interactions between people are also not the same for everyone. Interactions that happen in real life and interactions that happen digitally can create joy and also anxiety. Both these interactions have elements of masking the truth, or to relate to my paintings, masking our surface; In effect, hiding and revealing our very natures to and from each other.

Life can get very messy at times, and it can be difficult to present a polished and professional view all the time – and that is OK. With these paintings, I hope to show the joy of revealing our flaws, and the following confidence that happens when we accept ourselves as we are, and begin to live and love life again for who we are.

My teaching pedegogy follows along with some of these concepts. For example, in my artroom, I focus on T.A.B. (Teaching for Artistic Behaviors) and Choice-Based Learning ideas. Both of these concepts can be very messy in there learning style and experiences for the art student. Mostly, students are guided towards making their own artistic choices and accepting or risking artistic failure! This can be a long and emotionally difficult road to art making for the students – but I believe, it builds better trust and confidence for the students decision making abilities, and in the long term, allows for more mature artistic growth and a healthier, flexible mindset.

I also know that showing art that is not necessarily in a final state or totally polished, as to presentation, will be valuable to all art students; Being able to ‘see’ progress and process is a marvelous way to learn.