The paintings of Abigail Prout are featured throughout the library March 11th through April 22nd. The library invites you to take a moment to enjoy her work and also to read her artist’s statement:
“I paint to converse with my Muse. I paint to adventure into myself, to connect with whimsy, color and mystery. Investing quality time into any relationship is key to creating trust. The Muse is no different. The more time I spend with her, the more I trust her inspiration and direction, and the more I learn. Painting runs in my family. My great Uncle Edmund Greacen was a distinguished Impressionist during the turn of the century. I was first taught to paint using watercolors at our family ranch in Arizona by my grandfather. I have painted since childhood, giving my art as gifts to strangers on planes and trains. While this impulse came freely, I consider myself blessed to have had my creativity encouraged by others throughout my life.
I attended school here on Lopez, and remember my first artistic acknowledgement in 1st grade when I was awarded first place for a Halloween art contest, which won me a hamburger meal at the Galley (a treat for the daughter of a hippy vegetarian). In High School my art teacher, Lopez artist Nancy Bingham, wrote in my senior yearbook “You have a wonderful relationship with your creativity”. That was the first time that I thought of my art as a relationship with a part myself. In college mymajor combined art, psychology and anthropology. During the Spring of 1994 I spent 3 months painting en plein air internationally (Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Denmark). This work produced a show in Bellingham as my senior project. ( A shout out to Polly Ham who came to that show and, among other fellow artists from Lopez, has been a stalwart champion of my creativity.) In 1998 I earned my MA in Art Therapy, and continued to deepen my understanding of the psychology of art. Through spending hundreds of hours with people creating art together, I began to understand how holding space for others can allow art to reveal and heal.
Fast forward to 8 years ago. I started painting with Colin Goode at his studio in Lopez village. I was a new mother and was feeling disconnected from my Muse. I had gradually fallen away from her, as one does from yoga or meditation practice- simply by prioritizing other things. For the last 8 years, Friday mornings would find me and Colin (and usually my good friend and fellow artist, Lane Langford) in the Goode Gallery. We would work on our respective paintings together, trading stories, wisdom, music, and laughter as I slowly learned the art of oils.
during this time, I developed a painting style that I call “abstract realism”. All but 4 of the paintings in this show were created in Colin’s studio.
In Colin’s absence (he died last month), I am appreciating the gift of the ‘Time for my Muse’ that he gave to me.
I dedicate this show to him.” -artist Abigail Prout