Dianna Cates Dunn » Blog

My painting "style"..... just what is it? Is it definable? If so, how do I - and others- define it? (I have to wonder if it should be definable?)Is it enough to label it realistic , abstract,  expressionistic, surrealic, or within some other "style" catagory? Should my genre alway be the same (ie, landscapes, portraiture, still lifes, etc.?) Should I be concerned about making each piece definiately and unequivocally mine? Or, do I, contiune to wander?

Ever think about the duality in the meaning of the word 'still'? (Sure, you meditated just last night on it, right?) Actually, my good ole, hard bound edition of Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (circa 2003, if you please!), lists 6 distinct definitions. However the two definitions that I find most thought provoking - and more than a little contridictory- are:

STILL (1) (from old and middle english) To become motionless or silent. To put an end to as in settle. 

STILL (2)Always, continually. In a progressive manner. Increasingly. To continue the action or condtion.

Motionless or increasingly? To continue or put an end to? Which is it I do when I say that I am still wandering? 

Is it too easy to say I do both? Probably. But that's the personal belief I have come to. 

Not everyone will

understand your journey.

That's fine.

It's not their journey to

make sense of,

It's yours.

                    - Annetta Powell

Having those times when I create contentedly, finding connection with, and pleasure in, what I am creating is a wonderful and fulfilling state. However, having those times when all my creative efforts seem unsatifactory, leave me searching, experimenting and feeling more than a bit frustrated, well those are times of learning and the probable growth in how and why I work.  I have decided to embrace this cycle of wandering from frustration to fulfillment as one of the many signs of a full life that comes with being an artist.