Patterns in Life & Art
Why do I paint the same things over and over again?
I had to finally look at my canvases spread all over my studio.
I realized that the same theme is running through all the canvases.
Trees – large and green. Water – usually the ocean.
San Juan Island is the pattern I think I paint, over and over.
Afternoon at False Bay, Low, Low Tide - Original Oil Seascape Painting by Colleen Johansen
Why do I paint (and make graphics) of the same things over and over again?
I had to finally look at my canvases spread all over my studio.
I realized that the same theme is running through all the canvases.
Trees – large and green. Water – usually ocean.
Where I grew up? It was brown. The climate was desert. Dry. Brown. Sunny.
HOT. It was barren except for lawns and gardens watered by humans.
I remember driving to places where there were trees. Places that had lots of big, green trees. And it felt moist in these places. And my eyes and innerness felt rested. So pleasurable.
In my youth, it never occurred to me that I might live in a treed environment.
Or that I might live a stone’s throw from the ocean.
I never would have dreamed or guessed of a life in a completely different city, state and climate.
It was through planning, and a good deal of serendipity.
With several major life moves, I ended up here, on San Juan Island.
It is ingrained in me. Much of who I am is San Juan Island.
And green? And water?
Plenty!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh . . .
San Juan Island is the pattern I think I paint, over and over.