A Symbiotic Dance with Watercolor
Artist Statement
Techniques and Materials
This project is all about pushing my growth edge with watercolor. With no prior education in the medium and little personal experience with it, I wanted to explore the relationship of water with pigment. I felt profoundly and instinctually drawn to it. Prior explorations were done in ignorance and robbed the watercolor of its unique properties. I wanted to learn how to use it in a manner respectful of what it has to offer. Something about its inherent fluidity tugs at my soul. So, I signed up for two watercolor classes to build a strong foundation. Over the past seven weeks, I engaged in approximately fifty-five hours of educational and personal exploration of the medium.
My creative process has evolved throughout the journey but has focused mainly on process over product: the process of exploration, discovery, and homing in on that quality of awe inherent in finding a new way of artistic expression. One of my biggest takeaways is the innocent exploratory quality, childlike and void of expectations, and how profoundly important that is to me. This showed up in my work repeatedly through experimentation with how additional media play with the watercolor paint, like charcoal, India Ink, isopropyl alcohol, salt, and plastic wrap. These interactions made me so mesmerized that I plan to explore other symbiotic combinations.
Body of Work
Nature and my connection to it is a theme that arose across my work, from vessels containing water to flowers, trees, underwater creatures, and biomorphic art––all were primarily organic. I’ve always felt drawn to both water and nature. I grew up in rural Ohio on a 14-acre Christmas tree farm among thousands of trees. We had gardens, an orchard, two ponds, fresh grass, and an elaborately landscaped yard. We shared the land with an old giant oak tree, born well over a century ago. My childhood was primarily peaceful and largely spent exploring the land, connecting with the earth and her creatures. However, my turbulent teenage years turned traumatic, and I had to learn to survive, find my own path, and grow up too fast.
These experiences are significant because they have directly influenced my art and my love for watercolor. I connect with the water inherent in watercolor not only for its direct friendship with the natural world but also for its fluidity. I resonate with water and its seemingly magical ability to find new pathways through the world when faced with obstacles or challenges. It can flow through small spaces, seep into the ground, carve a new path, and even wear down rock. It can turn into steam, rain, snow, and ice. It nourishes all life on our planet and is one of nature’s most precious allies. Most beautifully, it can play with pigment and create works of art. My early experiences with nature and finding a new path in the face of trauma are two lenses that shape my worldview, my ideas, and my exploration of the watercolor medium and the subject matter itself. Additionally, my deeply held concern for our unfolding climate crisis and the ecological grief that I feel at the profound loss of species and ecosystems was apparent.
As I progress in my journey into the field of art therapy and counseling, I envision a future where I continue to push my growth edge as both an artist and art therapist. Such exploration is paramount for personal and professional growth because it mirrors what I will ask of clients in the therapeutic environment. I must practice what I preach in art therapy and continue to work on myself in the same manner that I work with clients. This means having regular and consistent art practice, engaging in art classes to improve my skills, seeking my own therapy, and regularly engaging with literature in the field. The meaningful nature of the exploratory process that emerged for me during this project underscores the joy I will find in the journey ahead.
