Me Thinks

I like the art of Caitlin Connolly, such as the piece above titled, "Detangling My Mind."  For seven years Caitlin struggled with infertility. She explains, "No, I hadn't physically born children, but I had brought into existence hundreds and hundreds of characters that wouldn't exist if I hadn't created them.  That changed my heart and I understood my own ability as a nurturer differently after that point. And I think that's true for everyone, not just me as an artist.  What have you created and cared for that wouldn't exist if you hadn't cared for it?

The women she paints "feel big, substantial, capable--like they can do things. When I go to museums, I see so many paintings where women's hands and feet have been painted smaller, I don't know why. Little dainty hands placed nicely on their lap.  I don't understand or identify with that. I paint women that can do things with their hands and go places with their feet.  It just feels right to me."

Connolly says, "My worth is concrete and independent of trials and hardships, and also independent of achievements, even achievements like having children or being successful.  My worth is just because it is."

"I will spend hours and hours on a painting only to take it into my woodshop days or months later and sand it down (parts or the whole) to begin again.  And it is this play, between the building and the removing of what isn't working, that produces my favorite paintings.  It is a very symbolic and healing process for me on a personal level and reminds me that it is OK that I am a work in progress.  I need experiences that sand me down and refine me, and I will have other experiences that build me back up, and I know that over time I am progressing and that is good."

(Taken from an article by Morgan Jones in the May 10 Deseret News)