About fifteen years ago, I started painting my children and other people’s children. I wanted to capture the memories of their childhood, to show them “as they are for now.” This made me happy and grounded in my “stay-at-home” life. The paintings were like giant snapshots from the family photo album and like a snapshot, they captured a moment in time, but time cannot remain static. Children grow older and lives change.
Now I am fortunate to have moved into a larger studio to paint “larger”, both literally and figuratively. In this space I can paint several works simultaneously and work in both oils and acrylic.
Pretense • Poison • Missing • Eviscerate • Undone
These larger canvases reveal a more personal story. The 6’ x 6’ oil paintings evolved from a personal trauma and the realization that nothing in life ever remains the same.
These paintings begin with a photographic image, but elements are altered or added to tell a more psychological and emotional story.
I am learning to accept the groundlessness of life and to relax somewhere in the middle, because that is where love lives. Through my work I converse with my demons: anger, fear, and sadness so that I may value my goodness: compassion, bravery, and joy.
- Jean Manning