JANET BOTHNE - ARTIST’S STATEMENT:
THE POWER OF COLOR
We respond in a variety of ways to color and color combinations - the mere mention of color in song or verse can evoke a stream of emotions from calm to ferocity. Most people have favorite colors. Street gangs think they own them. The fashion world selects a few to elevate to celebrity status each season. But color is a mischievous playmate. It changes with light or context – it can dance or collide.
With paint, I weave my colors, searching for the exquisite relationships that might bring about that harmonious hum or violent discord– the immense number of possible combinations make it a task that is both exhilarating and exhausting to contemplate. By allowing the color to “drive”, I become the vehicle and the first-hand observer. I don’t expect every combination to yield perfection, I only hope to enjoy moments of awe, calm or intensity during the process, and to share them with the viewer and realize that there is also beauty, life and electricity found in the imperfect, unexpected arrangements as well.
Color is a mood enhancer and through paint it is my natural anti-depressant. I see color akin to musical notes. It’s no coincidence they both are described in terms such as soft, loud or bright – they have keys and tones. I experience muted colors as chords and saturated colors as crescendo. It is naïve to think we can control color; we can merely coax it and observe. It is alive and ever changing and once you acknowledge its power as your teacher, it becomes your ally in the struggle not to struggle.
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