The Healing Arts Exhibit Series has been showcasing local artists in Southern Utah for many years. Artwork will be on display at Kane County Hospital from November 21, 2018 to December 18, 2018.
Select paintings will be for sale and would make a perfect Christmas gift! If you are interested in taking home an original piece, print, or note cards please direct message me. All artwork must remain on display until December 18, 2018.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
My paintings are a story I share. They are my interpretation of scenes that have caught my eye, or they are created from my romance with history – when time moved a little more slowly. I find infinite inspiration in the kaleidoscope skies and kodachrome landscapes of southern Utah. I also love painting gardens, old buildings, horses, Texas longhorn cattle, gnarly trees and country people.
I work in a representational style, so I sketch out a composition that achieves the purpose of the piece, being selective of which elements to exclude or emphasize. Although working in transparent watercolor can be an intense, unpredictable, frustrating process – no cover-up paint for highlights or mistakes – it is also very exciting. I have fun envisioning myself summoning the Four Elements to create: Earth –the pigments, Water –obviously, Wind –air, and Fire –the creative spirit burning within me. I love how watercolor renders the atmospheric elements so effectively, creating luminous color in clouds, wispy virga (the arrested rain curtain dancing over the desert where the water evaporates before it reaches the ground), and the deep, rich glow on stone surfaces.
My work is an invitation to appreciate the extraordinary natural beauty of southern Utah and the legacy left by ordinary, hard-working people. With my paintings, there is no head-scratching or debate about what a piece is really trying to say. I strive to articulate an honest image that evokes fond memories or positive feelings. My art is a heart thing, not a head thing.
~ Loretta Clayson