They are much more impressive in the wild. I’ve killed every cactus I ever owned. I over water and pay too much attention to them. The one I have now is shriveled and sad-looking. The motto of a cactus is “Be compelling and repelling at the same time.” My approach to this painting is two-fold: Paint everything I see. If painting what I see isn’t possible, then paint a suggestion of it. Acrylic, 18 X 24″.
Drawn on an airplane on my way to an exotic place, I could not help but express how my head was literally and figuratively in the clouds. The view out of an airplane window is fantastic, yet forbidden. We are originally land animals, after all. Clouds are fun to paint and draw. They have so many shapes and textures— tibetan tanka swirls, whipped cream, vanilla pudding piles, cottony wisps and bones of deities.
I wish drawing in public were as commonplace as reading. People always want to see what I’m drawing, which is fine for them, but embarrassing for me. No one ever asks what one reads or writes, but drawing in public is a novelty for most. More art should be done on planes to take the eyeballs off me. Or, I should hone my public persona and be more friendly.
Pen and pencil on paper, 7 X 8
The one thing about abstract art that is the least understood is this— there is no right or wrong answer. Someone spills some paint and that’s art? Why? You want to scoff at Rothko’s bands of color because you expect a painting to show you what you should feel. Abstract art has no specific story to tell, yet it draws you in just the same. This painting can be hung in any way; upside down, right side up or sideways. It’s an allegory of modern life. Where have we been, where are we going?
Once some one asked Salvador Dali if he did a lot of drugs.
His response was, “I am a drug.”
I have an equal fascination for painting abstract geometry as I do scenery. Put them both together, you end up with an anomaly. What doesn’t quite belong—the star or the landscape? Acrylic on canvas, 30 X 40.
No more scowling faces. Creating spaces without eyes, faces or people, because after all, sometimes we all just want to be alone in a painting. Here we are in a beach paradise where the sky marches into the ever after and the flora beckons. No one knows what lies beyond, because who does want to know? As long as you are in this painting, you will never see anyone, and that’s what we all need after a long day of customer service. Acrylic on canvas, 41 x 36.
Selina De Haan 