The show at Mark Woolley is getting a great response.

Here is the Artist Statement for Imaginal/Manifest.  And below is the write-up by Richard Speer in this week's WIllamette Week. 

 Artist Statement:

This body of work explores the meeting place of the imaginal and physical worlds. The paintings illuminate the journey of a thought from imagination to actuality. Here the entanglement of ideas and fruition are presented in the context of the visual language of the garden.

a garden depends on planning, commitment, and action. It is a place where a seed’s potential is realized and becomes flower and fruit, a place that inspires and sustains. The garden stands as both a physically created place, and a metaphor for one’s inner world. These paintings invite the contemplation of what each individual can bring forth from within. They ask the viewer to discover what is inside oneself: the seeds, the flowers seeking to blossom, and the fruits that may be brought forth through one’s endeavors. They invite the recognition of the bridge between dreaming and becoming.

The meeting place of the imaginal and manifest worlds is the place in which our lives are actualized. Through cultivating what is within, one is able to embody the highest vision for his or her life, and in doing so, create the possibility of transformation for oneself and for the world.

 

From Willamette Week, July 9th, 2008:

MARK WOOLLEY GALLERY
Tamara English

There is beauty in the manicured English garden but also in the untamed weed patch, as Tamara English demonstrates in Imaginal/Manifest. The paintings celebrate overabundant vegetation via pentimento effects, chalky outlines and flat, encausticlike surfaces with deep berry reds and hunter greens. Works like Here in the Betwixt feature wallpaperlike strips that walk the line between still life and decorative art. While the body of work feels one-note, the imagery is ripely seductive. 817 SW 2nd Ave., 224-5475. Closes Aug. 2. -Richard Speer

Reading from Matt Lamb's Blog site earlier today, I was thinking about how much I enjoyed reading his biography by Richard Speer.  In my own writing and reflecting, I have been looking at the why of doing something.  Why does one make art?  This is about the foundation of the action.  The intention.  The Intention that one holds and maintains through all manner of obstacles because it is dear to one's heart.  The Hero's Journey.  When the hero sets out on his or her quest, they'll do whatever it takes to complete the quest.  Because they know the importance and value of it.

A large part of the reason I enjoyed Matt Lamb's book-  "Matt Lamb: The Art Of Success"- is because Mr. Lamb holds such a strong intention for his painting.  It inspires me to hold my intention more consciously, and paint from that place.