Art Grateful

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I didn’t expect to be gifted with a mentor. Young and naïve, with crude paintings in tow, I sought the sage advice of Ken Carlson. His journey in wildlife art reads like a Hemingway novel—full of dramatic scenes, brushes with death, and unwavering determination. As a teenager, I absorbed his every word, as I still do today. He is a living testament to a life well lived in pursuit of artistic excellence, and he stands as the foremost authority on wildlife art.
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Inadequate in my attempts to express my respect and appreciation for Ken, year after year, I write words only to delete them later.  Though only thirty miles or so separate us, there remains a chasm of life experience. 

I’m eager to begin a new painting. It is a fresh start, a new journey. I get to take all that I have learned and apply it to a white, gessoed board—hopefully omitting the errors of the past. There is comfort in believing I can control the outcome. Appreciation for the unexpected is learned. Let it happen!

This understanding has eluded me for 25 years. A conflicted heart often lets go of both the good and the bad. What remains are fragments you gather and use to begin again.
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Recently, I was interviewed for an upcoming article in Southwest Art Magazine. Self-reflection is often called for in advance.  Growth is the name of the game in life. Where do I want to take my work going forward? Some questions are answered by what I don’t want to lose. However, the ultimate yearning of an artist is to continue to grow and evolve.

I review sketches and envision this dream. Nature—vast, yet vanishing. The grazing does just outside my studio window, the grizzly encounter at Oxbow Bend one early fall morning, the sea glass scattered along a beach near Barcelona—these images form a mosaic.

I stare at the gessoed board. In these moments, Ken’s advice percolates: no sugarcoating, only raw truth—a rarity; a gem. Suddenly, the wind picks up; in unison, the whitetails bolt across the field. I realize it is time to paint. With direction, purpose, and a grateful heart for all these gifts, I pick up the brush and begin.