Lynn Rattray
In a previous life you would have found the Principal (me) walking the halls of various schools, chatting with students and dropping into classrooms. Today, having morphed into an artist, you’re just as likely to see me on the floor taking particular joy in the messiness of paint drips and splatters, with the same ending up largely on myself. There is no longer a need for straight lines nor to color within the lines. I love this thing I now do! You’ll find in my portfolio paintings depicting abstracted palm trees, salty seas, poetry inspired works, the nonobjective and our beloved Ybor City Chickens. This subject variety keeps things lively, thus you’re not likely to happen upon me staring at a blank canvas wondering what to paint. I paint to tell a story, usually leaning into the narrative of nature. For example, every palm tree, from its lofty height, has a story to tell. My artistic language consists of color, shape, line, mark making, collage, composition and, most importantly, the unexpected. I dip my brush into oil and acrylic paints, and especially enjoy mixed media work where I use a variety of mediums and tools. To begin a painting I energize the canvas with random mark making. This provides a chance for me to use my whole body to loosen up and gives the canvas its first opportunity to come alive. These gestural marks are typically covered over by the many layers of paint to follow, and it’s always a surprise to see a few of those original marks popping through on the final work. At some point in my creative process, the painting begins to tell it’s own story and I just follow along as I find myself on the “road not taken”. Although I’m in unknown territory, my favorite part is when the work begins to use it’s own voice to tell the story! I work through the “messy middle” and arrive at a finished painting that is seldom what I had planned when starting the process. Welcome to my sometimes chaotic art making world! It’s the best of all universes for me, and I hope my art will bring you cause to pause in thoughtfulness about the story you’re witnessing and provide a bounce in your step as you depart.
