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The Chapel - University Unitarian Church
(From the exhibition artist statement)
As I awakened, I realized I no longer lived
under the stars, but among them.
It isn't uncommon for art making to be looked on as a spiritual practice. And while the parameters are wide for exactly what that means, there’s really no arguing that, in the course of making art, an artist can hardly help but at some point find themselves looking both deeply inward and distantly outward.
"The hand surprises us, creates and solves problems on its own," Stephan Nachmanovitch wrote in his book, Free Play. "Often enigmas that baffle our brains are dealt with easily, unconsciously, by the hand."
I experience that surprise often. It's quite the encounter to watch my own hand place a mark—spontaneously, without thought, and with unanticipated results. Then for me to somehow know enough to question, "Where did that come from?"
Little wonder that I love the quote from Robert Henri (The Art Spirit)—"A great painter will know a great deal about how he did it, but still he will say, 'How did I do it?'"
And so, the spiritual journey is launched. An odyssey filled with late-night conversations between artist and canvas. Ever-growing tolerance of ambiguity, messiness. A deepening gaze. A broadening embrace of the mysterious that surrounds us, and that which lies within.
Simply put, welcome to Art Making 202.
--Don Haggerty
Footnote: All the paintings in this show are part of an ongoing series titled, Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth, and as such, each has played a role in this unfolding journey.
And while visually rich, the large oil paintings press beyond their surfaces to unveil layers of meaning as they “reverberate” with their titles, and with the lines of poetry composed by the artist to accompany each work.
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The Chapel - University Unitarian Church
Solo Exhibition
Seattle, Washington
September 30 - November 18, 2022
(From the exhibition artist statement)
As I awakened, I realized I no longer lived
under the stars, but among them.
"The hand surprises us, creates and solves problems on its own," Stephan Nachmanovitch wrote in his book, Free Play. "Often enigmas that baffle our brains are dealt with easily, unconsciously, by the hand."
I experience that surprise often. It's quite the encounter to watch my own hand place a mark—spontaneously, without thought, and with unanticipated results. Then for me to somehow know enough to question, "Where did that come from?"
Little wonder that I love the quote from Robert Henri (The Art Spirit)—"A great painter will know a great deal about how he did it, but still he will say, 'How did I do it?'"
And so, the spiritual journey is launched. An odyssey filled with late-night conversations between artist and canvas. Ever-growing tolerance of ambiguity, messiness. A deepening gaze. A broadening embrace of the mysterious that surrounds us, and that which lies within.
Simply put, welcome to Art Making 202.
--Don Haggerty
Footnote: All the paintings in this show are part of an ongoing series titled, Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth, and as such, each has played a role in this unfolding journey.
And while visually rich, the large oil paintings press beyond their surfaces to unveil layers of meaning as they “reverberate” with their titles, and with the lines of poetry composed by the artist to accompany each work.
Artist, Don Haggerty
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