n o w h e r e

n o w h e r e is a near-daily practice of completing a small landscape painting in one sitting. Sometimes I get in my car with my portable gouache painting kit and drive out of our small prairie town until I find a little place to park on the side of the road. I prop my board on the steering wheel. The water dish sits in my cup holder. I start painting. Other times I work from memory, recalling fields and skies I see on my daily walks. Sometimes I paint textures and patterns only. These bits and parts are assembled in collages.

Over the course of my art career, I have created little landscapes if I can't think of anything else to do. As I was looking back over some of my older work I was struck by the movement and playfulness of these inconsequential paintings. The pieces were not laden with heavy meanings or messages. Turning to the places I have seen nearly every day of the last 20 years, I just painted. Taking a light, loose approach is what I have needed to move beyond chronic physical pain I have been dealing with for years and the guilt I have felt for not making any drawings or paintings over the last few years.

Finding and making beauty of the most unlikely spaces, roadsides and approaches has brought me much satisfaction. And to my delight, a growing body of work.

Follow my progress on Instagram @lindsay.arnold