Painting my Life's Story: Digging Deep

A collector from Chicago wrote me today asking for more detailed information about another one of my works. I've never met her, she bought one of my paintings years ago in a gallery that represented me at that time. Her questions made me wonder if others would like more information about me and the inspiration behind my paintings.
 I know my work is contemporary in one sense.... but it comes across as nostalgic as well. That is an unusual combination these days.
It's only contemporary in the way that I paint. It is ALL nostalgic scenery and I do not make excuses for painting what is real to me and my life. It is who I am.. I OWN the fact that I paint in a way that expresses my personal narrative, my internal story, and what a scene feels like and personally means to me.

Here is my note back to the collector about this painting today:

Pathway Home 12x24, Oil ©2018|DotCourson

Dear _____,

Was just thinking about you after emailing you the larger sized image you requested and wanted to tell you how important you are to me as a collector. When you look at one of my creations you looking INTO it differently and I really appreciate your level of interest. It shows how enriched and aware of art that you are above the average collector.

I hope that the enlarged photo allows you to see the layering and stippling of the paint and how the painting designed to allow and compel  one to slow down and explore the journey to the center of interest ....and move into the painting. But I hope you appreciate the scene (as a whole) more.
Pathway Home tells a lot about me. It is another memory of our many moves when I was a child after we left our original home place that looked much like this scene. I have always felt I was searching for a pathway back home and paths are re-occurring in my work, someone recently pointed out to me.  I've been thinking about why that is since it was not intentional, but something I'm apparently compelled to place in much of my work.
Maybe it is because when I was a child we sold the original home place where my paternal grandparents lived for generations. I loved that place. Afterwards, we moved form house to house to places we would rent  for a few months at a time.  I remember traveling around as we’d look for a new place for our family to move to and many times I would see abandoned houses like this one that reminded me of our ancestral home and I would be drawn to it... thinking it would FEEL like home. That is the scene I painted and my feeling was that this could become a warm and cozy place to call home.
Let me know if you want Pathway Home.

Dot 

Blog Footnote: Going home is a universal feeling. We all intuitively know we belong somewhere else, and I believe God made us that way on purpose! :-)  Since childhood I also always felt my life would get better and better and am a realistic optimist.  I'm so blessed. As a creative person, seems we artists are ALWAYS on the move and "seeking out" pathways and embrace change as a sign of personal growth. I dig deep as an artist; the world is full of artists digging shallow.

Me age 11

Visit my website at:  https://dotcourson.com/

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Email artist@dotcourson.com or pone 662-517-3100 to arrange a visit.

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