About the Painting
Winter Garden
In 2022, I took 8 months off from painting. There are many different reasons why, but to make a long story short- it was necessary. I told myself in January of 2023, I would start back. I didn’t want to give myself any specific projects or goals to achieve when starting back, but I did give myself 1 rule. My one rule was that I would spend time painting something I wanted to paint, for myself. Not a commissioned project for someone else. From 2020-2022, I made a lot of work for other people. I loved it! I grew a business around doing what I love and making people happy and financially supporting myself from that. But I realized that, the work I was making wasn’t ME. I almost lost the ability to create for the sake of creating or for my own enjoyment, straight from the heart. So, I told myself in 2023 I’m prioritizing making work just to make it and doing what I want to do, not just what I think other people will buy.
Being in a gallery has been a dream ever since I can remember, but since most of the work I was making over the past fews years was for other people, I wasn’t giving myself a chance to create a piece I could submit. Once I decided to prioritize creating work for myself, I knew it was time to also start submitting to shows and make this dream a reality.
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I had a blank 36” x 36” canvas sitting on the easel in my living room, for storage reasons because I had nowhere else to keep it (I have a studio apartment so everything is just in the same room). I stared at it day and night wondering what would one day be on it, knowing whatever it was, it would be awesome. One night I had a dream where I saw this color palette: deep blues, with light green hints of white and gold. I didn’t think too much about it but I really wanted to put all those colors together after that, so I finally put paint to canvas again on that 36” x 36” canvas and from there, Winter Garden was born.
The painting came first, then the name. The color palette made me think of Spring, but also Winter. Personally, I was gearing up for Spring but it was still Winter in Georgia, so I tried to think of a title that could somehow embody both. Then, I started thinking about the break I took from painting and how this piece represents a new chapter for me. Flowers, the most beautiful parts of a Spring scene, need time to grow in order to then bloom. When it’s Winter, the soil is processing, soaking in nutrients, and preparing for the upcoming growth, so that when the weather gets warmer, the sun is out for longer and the rains provide water, it’s ready to help the plants grow and the flowers bloom. The garden is still there in the Winter, even if you can’t see it. Just like the Garden, I took the time to process, soak things in, and prepare.
And now? Well now, the sun is out and it’s time to bloom.
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Photo by Madison Crowley Photo
This painting is my first painting to be featured in a public Gallery Exhibition, and I believe it is because of the true heart and soul that was put into it. It is available for purchase here.
Suwanee Arts Center:
(678) 878-2818
3930 Charleston Market Street, B6
Suwanee, Georgia 30024​