Heather McGlothlin

All my adult life I had a longing to paint.  I began painting in 2019 and focused on fluid art. I was always practicing in the background with a brush and pallet knife, but fluid art was a way of creating that gave me confidence. I could blame the paint and the lack of control of the medium, not myself for the outcomes.   As the pandemic set in, I felt a greater pull toward expression through direct marks and color.   Bold bright color to awaken and create happiness. That’s when I began to take more ownership of the brush rather than letting the paint own me.   

My life cycle has always run in 3-to-5-year increments. By the fifth year of something I’ve grown bored and am moving on to the next thing, whether a job, a house, or major move. Art has quieted my life and replaced a misplaced longing with a desire to find greater expressions of myself on the canvas. I have fallen in love with exploring mediums, mark making, and defining my own process of starting a piece.  This has become my sanctuary, place of peace.

At the beginning of this series, I was trying to figure out and work through frustration of feeling isolated, unheard, boxed in and stuck.  By the end of this series, I realize we all have a voice that hears us, that knows us, but sometimes we must listen a little harder to hear the response. We can recognize, love, and bet the validator of our own brightness.  Be the Marigold standing tall with strength and light.