Featured Artist Katherine Greene

Artist Katherine Greene presents a collection of mindful abstract expressionist paintings brimming with vivid color and energy. Enjoy more of her portfolio by visiting her website.

 

 

My art is an expression of my personal growth. As each painting grows, develops and changes, it becomes a metaphor that relates to my inner self. It is a search for new possibilities and creative solutions.

 

 

Each mark, each moment, informs the next. What if I put red here, or a black line there, what do I do next? My goal is to keep an open mind and eliminate judgments, which requires me to continually alter and adjust my movements across the canvas.

 

 

Growing up I was always kind of creative, although I didn’t know what that meant. I wrote poetry, learned to play the clarinet and took classes in calligraphy. I got pretty good at calligraphy and even had a business designing projects such as signs, menus, quotes and flyers. During this time, Zen Buddhism took hold of me and I read Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunyru Suzuki and practiced sumi-e ink painting.

 

 

While I attended college, I worked towards my BA in Sociology but took an art history class because I needed more units. That is when I became obsessed with art. I continued taking art history classes, which then branched into taking drawing and design courses.

 

 

I was extremely attracted to the abstract expressionists such as Joan Mitchell, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, Franz Kline and Mark Rothko. I eventually signed up for a watercolor painting class. Color entered my life.

 

 

“Color! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of dreams.” Paul Gaugin

I was so in love with color! It was such an important part of my artistic development. For many years I painted realistically in watercolor on paper—mostly large flowers similar to the style of Georgia O’Keeffe.

 

 

I grew complacent with realism and my paintings evolved into abstract landscapes that still proffered color as the main ingredient. I had fun with this and learned more about combining color and the relationship between colors.

 

 

Continuing to evolve from the abstract landscape phase, I became curious about letting the paint have its way and trying not to control everything. This was new for me—it was both exciting and challenging. During this phase, I was reading articles and books on mindfulness and Buddhism which led me to practice meditation.

 

 

The abstract expressionist genre started seeping into my paintings. I went back to the artists who inspired me in that art first history class. My latest obsession is Cy Twombly, scribble and mark-making genius.

 

 

Today, my approach to painting is intuitive and non-judgmental. I let the colors and marks show themselves to me as the painting reveals its secrets. I feel as though I have come full-circle and will continue to evolve, grow and find new solutions for my art and my life.

 

Artist Katherine Greene invites you to follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

 

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