Barbara Churchley

Cedaredge, Colorado

Artist's Statement

There is a well-known quote by Mark Twain that applies not only to adventurers, but also to artists: “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Expore. Dream. Discover.”

Creating a work of art is, for me, an act of adventure, immersion into the unknown, a celebration at times, and a challenge always. It is fulfilling as only an act of creation can be. I throw off the bowlines and set sail with canvas, color, brush, and palette knife to see where my journey will take me.

The best of adventures is always “en plein air” where I am free to observe my natural surroundings as deeply and fully as I wish. If I have truly immersed myself into the world around me, then I face the challenge of capturing it so that both you and I recognize it when we look at the painting. Celebration occurs when that same thread that exists in you and me and the world around us is caught somewhere in that canvas covered with brushstrokes of color.