Painting Sedona

I'm preparing to hang a week-long solo exhibit, "A Matter of Time," at the Gainesville Fine Arts Association Gallery (reception Friday June 6, 5pm to 8pm). The show features recent work inspired by my first visit to Sedona, Arizona last summer.

Sedona, 24 x 48"

Sedona and the surrounding American Southwest have understandably enchanted generations of artists. As I love and paint this region, I know I'm joining a long tradition of painters awed by the West's vastness.

Although Sedona is stunning in its own right, we of course connect with places not only for their physical allure but for the emotions they evoke in us. I first encountered Sedona during a creative crossroads when, after breast cancer treatment, I wasn’t painting much and didn't know if I would ever be truly inspired to again.

Cancer tends to constrict our lives to rigid treatment schedules and managing the accompanying side effects. The broader horizons we pursued before diagnosis may vanish permanently or—if we are fortunate—temporarily, but vanish they do.

As with other extended periods of crisis, we may fail to recognize how much we've had to shrink ourselves just to survive, and we might not notice when it’s time to start reaching for a larger vision.

Time to go, 30 x 48"

Sedona crashed into my consciousness so abruptly that I couldn't gaze at the scenery without feeling a corresponding inner expansion. For the first time since my diagnosis three years prior, I thought, I want this, I want to live this expansively, or at least die trying.

I was frightened, yes, and marred by a disease that claims far too many people. However, Sedona reminded me that I could be everything that had happened to me yet so much more than I'd ever been.

Sedona Sky, 48 x 60"