"Desire and Reality" by Betty Clark

30 x 30 framed Acrylic paint on linen

A message from the artist:

The act of painting is a way to express the often complicated and multi layered experiences of living, while observing a present and immediate, or  distant event. The process of painting is cathartic, and brings me back to myself. It’s the way I have found to compact into a singular form, what I have observed, thought, and felt about a personal experience or an event in the larger world.

The primary and underlying theme of my work since 1983 has been about loss and mourning. Loss of a loved one, either through death or separation, loss of places, loss of safety, loss of species, loss of hope, are the things I think about. Personal happy or difficult interactions with people can be a theme. Psychological, political, and environmental concerns can enter into a painting. A particular location can be inspirational. On occasion, a painting is made for the uncomplicated pleasure of using the materials.

To conclude a painting, an order must be found within a defined space. At the same time, I stay open to new and unexpected visual, mental and emotional insights.  When new visual discoveries present themselves, they may change an already existing composition or direction.

There is a visceral sense of rightness at the end of a painting. It may not be, what it looked like it would be, somewhere along the way.  Sometimes a struggle occurs between me and a painting, which can take a very long time to resolve. I paint because it is always a new painting, a new learning experience.

My hope is that there is an energetic and intimate connection that happens between a painting, a viewer, and me. Painting continues to be a personal act of spiritual gratitude and wonder.