​In the evolution of my artistic journey, I have come to understand the importance of the image and the nonimage. As an avid life-long reader, stories have images and images have meaning. I still remember influential children's books and primary school readers that emphasized the image for understanding. I like to have a visual reference that suggests meaning. But colors, brushstrokes, drips, swirls, lines, and ethereal space suggest meaning as well. Why does it have to be one or the other? Why can't these two worlds exist together? In my art, they do.

 

​I intuitively create looking at the picture plane. I push the paint, overlap colors to be translucent washes, draw lines and paint over them, and let brushstrokes be brushstrokes because they are wonderful structure and form. I let the images come to me naturally. If an image is speaking to me or I see an image or if I keep thinking about an image, I to add it to the picture plane. Sometimes I don't know what it means or why it is there, but I trust myself. "If an image knocks on your door and demands to enter, make sure the door is unlocked" (Cassou & Cubley, 1995, p. 61).

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As a visual arts educator, I celebrate the bravery and freedom of children's artistic imagery—unabashed and fearless. Does an image have to hit us over the head to be valid? Images can be abstracted, illustrative, and childlike depending on its context and meaning within the artwork. Hopefully, when looking at and interacting with my artwork's imagery, they invite interpretations, emotions, ideas, and more a personal connection to yourself and your own meanings. 

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Reference:

Cassou, M. & Cubley, S. (1995). Life, paint and passion: Reclaiming the magic of spontaneous expression. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam. 

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