Capturing Memories Paintings (series 3 of 5)

This is the third from a series of five blogs highlighting my painting inspirations and the process I undergo when beginning a painting. I decided to use this blog as a writing exercise to clarify, even for myself, the questions that come my way about these two topics. With this in mind, I’ve come up with these five “categories” to elaborate on my inspirations, but know note there is often some overlap between these categories! And, because I believe each “category” deserves more than just a few sentences of explanation, I will create a separate blog for each inspiration; this blog covers my “Capturing Memories” paintings.

• Practice/Exploratory Paintings

• Current Disposition Paintings

• Capturing Memories Paintings

• Fascination with Color Paintings

• Commissioned Painting

Capturing Memories Paintings

(HINT: each painting above in the collage was inspired from memories of my childhood and/or recent travels)

While painting, I often feel as if I’m traveling back in time. Inspired by memories from childhood and recent and past travels, I not only intuitively gravitate towards using colors naturally found in our natural landscapes, but by also using my palette knives and color choices to express emotions experienced by these past memories.

Growing up in the suburbs of Indianapolis, IN and having two sets of grandparents living in small towns located in eastern Indiana…one town which literally shares the state border with Ohio…resulted in many car trips through farming country and small towns in a seatbelt-optional, burgundy “wood” paneled station wagon (complete with a “do not cross” imaginary line in the back seat between my brother and I). In the same station wagon, we traveled a circular route beginning in IN and exploring beautiful national parks including the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, the Tetons, Arches National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park and returning through the Great Plains of Kansas and midwestern landscapes of Missouri and Illinois.  

As a result, I have fond memories of distant horizons, stratified geological layers within the rock formations of Arches National Park and the Badlands, vibrant blue and orange hot springs within Yellowstone and the nuanced shades of green from numerous mountain views. My dad, being an Earth Sciences teacher, was quick to point out delicate tiny flowers, geological layers formed millions of years ago and everything in between.

I share all this to say isn’t it something how specific colors can randomly trigger memories from childhood? Whether its our natural environment or other color associations (and who doesn’t associate avocado green and bright orange with the 70’s???), I find my mind jumping to specific time periods and events.  Am I the only one?!  A few questions to ponder:

• Are you ever transported back to your childhood upon the random sighting of particular colors or color combinations?  

• Do you associate your travels and/or special travel memories with color themes? 

• Can colors remind you of feelings  and emotions associated with events in your past?

My love of color and it’s associations serves as inspiration for my paintings. I have been honored to find that others find themselves thinking back to their own life’s experiences while viewing my paintings too. I love hearing of life stories and recollections that my paintings bring to mind. My abstract landscapes bring about references to travels, the ocean, distant cities on a horizon and the open expanse of the sky over grasslands. I’ve come to understand that by using my intuition and ability to capture emotions (sometimes difficult to put into words), my paintings stir emotions within others. This is truly gratifying.

I wish is that you find yourself reflecting upon and honoring memories upon viewing my paintings. I believe this is the beauty of art…art can transport us to other times whether in our past or possibly even giving us hope for our futures too.

~Dawn