The Music of Maria Woodford

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Maria and her music has been a constant inspiration. Painting during her wedding was a most delightful experience.

Image: Maria and Brian dancing together on their wedding day.
Watercolor and Ink sketch by Chris Carter

Communication, expression or both?

Whether the result of our creative energy is a song, a poem or a painting, it is a vehicle to communicate a thought, an idea, an experience or an emotion. Is it important that the viewer, or audience, experiences the painting in the same way that the artist experienced it? Perhaps, if the artist's intention was to communicate a specific idea or emotion. When the content of the work evolves during the creative process, as it does in my paintings, the viewer is invited to experience the work in a personal manner that might differ greatly from the experience of the artist.
After many years of trying to figure out what it was that I wanted to share with the world through my paintings, I realized that my intent was simply to help the viewer open the door to her own thoughts, memories, feelings and creative energy. I do not wish to impose subject matter. The dilema is that most viewers need to be able to identify something, a shape, a form, a familiar object, in order to become engaged in the painting. It took a long time for me to understand and accept this and ultimately to find a way to balance subject matter and my own creative process. Once I was able to understand the rules of the game I was able to let go of my resistance to subject matter and allow it to be an element in my painting. It no longer matters whether it is a figure, a bowl of fruit or a forest of birch trees. The painting evolves in its own way; the subject is only the key that unlocks the creative energy.

Image: Adirondack Birch Trees No.1
Watercolor Painting by Chris Carter

Sketchbook Drawings: Allowing personal shapes and forms to express themselves

Puzzled by the diversity of my work, people often ask which medium and which genre is my favorite. If I had to chose one tool and one way to express my experience of life, I would chose a pencil and my sketchbook in which to draw orbs and organic shapes in space.

For many years my sketchbooks were filled with the struggle to draw realistically, the struggle to see the world as objects rather than shapes and patterns of light and dark. I rarely used my sketchbook to draw the orbs, ribbons and button-like shapes that automatically come from my pencil when I'm not thinking about drawing. As a child, I filled the pages of the telephone book with these delightful marks. I left these marks behind on napkins and placemats when I traveled. These shapes that move through space have been a part of my consciousness for as long as I can remember. Yet, I never honored these constant companions with a place on a page in a sketchbook or on a canvas. The first time I allowed them to become a painting was during the summer of 2003.

On December 31, 2005 I opened the cover of a new sketchbook, picked up a pencil and was immediately distracted. When I glanced at the marks my pencil had made, I saw the familiar orbs and saucer-like forms drawn faintly on the page. The time had come to embrace these shapes and to follow wherever they might lead. A journal drawing, allowing the drawing itself to inspire each mark, become a daily meditation. Surprisingly, the meditative practice led back to the figure and a serious study of the skeleton to allow the figures to emerge from the paper with movement in space without a model.

Watercolor Painting: Restless by Chris Carter

What is it that gives an image a life of its own? What is it that is felt when a person enters a room and the room feels different? Is there something beyond the words spoken, the tone of voice, the shape, the size and the color? What is it that is invisible yet seen vividly through the eyes of the soul? Can that invisible force be captured and expressed in paint, clay, music, poetry, dance or film? Or is the attempt to express that force of energy enough?

Image: Hera Grows Suspicious ... Again
Mixed Media Painting by Chris Carter