Art as an Escape to Another Reality

Vineyards, 24″ x 24″, oil on wood panel, sides painted, Karen Gillis Taylor

Someone once said, “Without Art we would be impoverished.” As a painter from imagination, this struck me to my core. Art enriches! Both the maker and the viewer.

I am not a fantasy painter, I paint from life experiences. One of my favorite painters, Marc Chagall did too.

As a young college study of History, I traveled with my girlfriend Terry to Western Europe on the lowest of budget levels and I came back determined to become a painter. The locations of our travels became burned into my memory, supplemented by all the photographs I had seen in my studies. Painting cities, towns, and landscapes today comes from both imagination and memory, like Chagall and other artists have done.

When life gets difficult or challenging, painting helps a person cope and escape, and beautiful color to work with adds to my fulfillment. Who would not want to escape to a sunny place with the blue ocean beckoning beyond? If you have visited that blue ocean, and remember the smell of the sea and the warm sand beneath your feet, would you not want to return, even in your own mind for a moment? And what if there was a vineyard very close, a bit inland where you might even visit or take up residence, helping to bring in the harvest and meet new friends during your labors? And what if there was a village near the vineyard and the sea, full of people you could find interesting?

By now, you might have a glimpse into a story. Art can take us there. Imagination required, even just a bit.

Holy cow, this is why I love to paint!

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