First a writer, I often repeated the phrase "Writing is just painting with words." Click to enlarge Now a visual artist, I know art in any form comes from that same spot inside each of us. If we are listening, we will know the words, the images, the colors, the way to move our bodies, the notes to sing, to portray our experience of knowing in that place. Painting is just describing what we see (or "know inside") with color. Artist Sue Anderson first began to dispel my fear of paint by proclaiming, "Painting is about paint." I learned I could paint even if I couldn't draw realistically. My painting style and techniques have been largely influenced by Frederica Bishop's "Intuitive Painting" and and Stewart Cubley's "The Painting Experience." Abstract, figurative, mixed media. I never sit down to paint a vase of flowers or a cardinal or my mother's face. Whenever I paint, which is often in the middle of the night when I know better than to put off the strong stirring to paint . I try to tap into that innermost place and just listen. As in writing, what comes out on the paper or canvas is often a complete surprise to me. Often I have either already written the poem that accompanies it, or the poem comes after the visual image. As in writing, if we get rid of the "shoulds" and the audience for whom we think we are creating, we get to the real work at hand. Home | Artwork | Help in Office/Home | Weddings/Houses/Pets | Editing/Writing/Teaching | Keepsake Casts MAGGI GRACE - maggi.grace@gmail.com - 919-929-1213