Amy Howell

I created this piece in response to the devastating flooding in Nepal. As I worked, I found myself thinking about the many other environmental disasters unfolding around the world—the fires in Canada, Spain, Colorado, Texas, and elsewhere; the brutal heat; the floods, droughts, earthquakes, tornadoes, and other catastrophic events affecting people, animals, and ecosystems across the planet. The causes of individual disasters can be complex, but scientists have warned us for decades that a...

Painting is one of the few things that truly grounds me. And it literally calls to me. When I close my eyes, I see images. Sometimes they are colors, shapes, lines, or fragments of a painting I’m already working on. Last night, I kept seeing white lines, indigo, and magenta. I sometimes wish there were a way to photograph exactly what I see in my mind. If I don’t paint for a few days, I become restless. Painting is a reset for me—a time-out from everything else. Maybe I need that more than...

Many artists have heard it at least once: “My five-year-old could do that.” Maybe they could. But what many people don’t realize is that when recognizable subjects disappear, the fundamentals of art become even more important. Shape, line, value, color, texture, movement, rhythm, balance, and composition all have to work together. One line can throw an entire painting off balance. One color can shift the emotional weight of the whole piece. Abstract art is not random. It may appear...