It is this mysterious spirit of art that beckons me to paint. I touch the canvas with my hands or brush and move the paint without logical thought, instead I let go to the guides of my soul and follow the unfolding path of color and texture.

Sometimes, I make pieces that express the emotion nature invokes; other times I express the emotion of my inner world and exploring these worlds through color, paint and texture is what I call Emotional Realism.

Nature is teaching me that there’s no such thing as finished, and I glimpse this truth when I sit and look at the sea, land and sky, which I notice are in constant change. Henceforth, the moment I put one stroke of paint on the surface, what I am looking at has changed. This is my inspiration when I paint landscapes. The simple beginning and end, the lack of people or things, is my attempt at catching the blink of the eye or the “staring out into space” that is like a meditation where being has transcended time.

I mimic this truth of constant change when I preserve a leaf, fern and other plant matter in an attempt to create fossils, by fossilizing a moment of time in nature. I apply layers of paint and other mediums, taking off paint by sanding and rubbing. I become the eroder of my time and live the expression of the truth life is constant change while I am painting. I also intend that these fossils will last hundreds of years remaining through the earth’s changes and so it is my way of honoring Mother Nature, the beginnings and endings of life.

The reflection of God I am experiencing through these processes is for me the essence of life. As in every relationship, finished is an illusion and so within these movements of paint and brush I muster a few seconds of awareness that what I see is what I am experiencing, a presence of moment, a constantly changing, merging, reemerging, awakening, movement of moments.

Much love and joy abide in these paintings and to those of you who have courage to indulge in such things, please do so. These pieces are made from love, which is certainly the never-ending mystery on this planet.

Blessings & Shanti
Judy C.Thomas