The hiss of summer is close at hand and the feeling of impending heat is becoming suffocating. I distinctly remember being cold and wishing for warmth; but it seems a distant faded memory now. The river has risen and fallen with every rain and with the last several weeks devoid of rain, she is low and languished. The river marks the seasons for me, we are now intimate and close, she runs her path to and fro outside my back door. I begin each day watching her with coffee and end each day seeing her disappear and melt into the night. In between those times I paint.
I was fortunate to have had some visitors in my studio earlier in the month and it was both socially wonderful, and professionally enlightening to talk to them about my art. I have painted figures for many years, and I have a way of layering, painting, and repainting which to most would seem completely redundant and unnecessary, but to me it is imperative. There is something inside my psyche that demands I work on each figure until I recognize it. My figures are compilations of all of the people I have known, or been in some form of contact with, in various stages of my life. The figures in their various bits and pieces of my past and present; encapsulate and make my life rich for me, through my paintings. I cannot say at what point each one materializes into the personally recognizable form to me, but there is no denying that I know it when it happens. So with that being said, if you know me, or have known me, you are a part of my art, you might not recognize yourself but you are there. This all brings me to the point that came to my attention during the visit earlier in the month, our lives are formed and molded by the people we come in contact with, some will sculpt us with care while others will tear us apart, and we must be reassembled again and again, this whole process of life seems to distinctly mirror my process in art. I find myself in a cycle of love and hate in the studio, followed by building and tearing down, but somehow out of the furious frenzy I find the essence of who I am, and why I am creating, only to have it slip through the fingers of my mind, and then another piece is started and the process like a fine oiled machine begins again. I have come to recognize in my art, that when one painting ends and another begins I am filled with anticipation and exhilaration of what my new lessons will be with the next stroke of the brush. I used to think if I could just find that magic paint, paper or ink that made the masters’ works so great, then I would have it all, but after years and years of work, I think I have found the magic is in the mind of the artist, and it dances in and out of the work and like any good dancer it must dance or the music stops.
Below are two of my latest works from the LongBoat Series…
LongBoat Little Pink Houses by Cathy Hegman
LongBoats: Little Pink Houses by Cathy Hegman
LongBoats Passages 30×30 Acrylic on board Cathy Hegman
LongBoats:Passages by Cathy Hegman
Thank you for reading my blog!
**To see more of my work visit my website, cathyhegman.com , I update my website, as I finish work!
Take care,
Cathy Hegman
http://www.cathyhegman.com
*All artwork and text included in this blog is copyright protected by Cathy Hegman and should not be reproduced in any form or fashion or used without the written permission of Cathy Hegman. All text and artwork included in this blog are solely the thoughts and original art of the artist, Cathy Hegman, unless otherwise noted, and are meant only to be guidelines and thoughts for others to read.
Cathy Hegman Art and Life 
Another thought provoking post, Cathy………….pink houses, heh heh!
Thank you Cathy, for sharing the thoughts and poetry of your life..poignant and melancholy, and searching for a spark of truth to ignite the creation . You inspire me to find a way.
Patricia