ART
Our creations reveal glimpses of our inner landscape. Our art then becomes our portal to the unseen world.
We live life as an artistic practice. The real work of being an artist is a way of being in the world. We tend to think of our art as the harvest of the lives we are living. We feel destined to paint, but more so, we paint to help bring reconciliation and peace into the world. We make our home and studio in the St. Croix River Valley where it forms a border with Wisconsin and Minnesota. This dynamic place by the moving waters continues to feed our curiosity for living close to the earth. We have a hunger to find the small miracles of nature, to see the beauty in things, to hear beautiful sounds, and to feel deeper sensations and connections to the universe.
Our work is a result of collaboration. We go beyond the conceptual, and physically work together on the same canvas. We paint at the same time, forging ideas together that neither of us could create alone. We experience this as both visual and verbal communication. When we render our conversation in paint, it is important to let each of our voices be heard, allowing expression of our unique perspectives.
Chaos seems necessary to get to the deeper order that unifies our work. Because we know that ideas usually don’t move in a straight line, we make intentional space for a more organic and flowing nature to take hold. It often takes courage, faith, and time to allow transformation by this practice. We bring this process into our workshops where we create paintings in large groups, much the same way we create our own work.
In life, as in conversation, things get messy. The visual language of color and shape helps us think about larger issues together. We each bring ourselves fully to the canvas. Our intent is to move from ego and forced will to a space that holds creative tension and gives rise to a reconciling third voice. The painting doesn’t look like what either of us would paint on our own. It’s not a compromise, rather it is the birth of a new idea. We are always surprised by what we have painted, discovered together, and what arises.
Engaging.
Creating.
Wondering.
A work of art does not answer questions, it provokes them; and its essential meaning is in the tension between the contradictory answers.
– Leonard Bernstein
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