Now that I have about four or five years worth of art under my belt to look at in hindsight, it’s very clear to me how my mental state is reflected in my creative output. As I stated in my last post, warmer tones in my paintings became reflective of the mental chaos I was experiencing internally the last few years, just as extremely deep blue tones reflected when I felt depressed. Lately I’ve lightened things up, painting more in blues, greens, yellows, and white.

This was my first foray back into painting recently. I see the splash of warm tones as representing bits of lingering chaos in my life amidst my efforts to make things more peaceful and calm, indicated by the cooler tones. This trend showed in at least one other painting.

Things began to cool down when the reds shifted to purple, still amidst a sea of blue and green.

Amidst this colorful argument between warm tones and cool tones emerged three paintings that had no warm tones at all. One unusually evoked form in addition to color and motion, suggesting both the trees and mountains of my new home.

Looking over the progression of paintings, though not completely chronological, I can clearly see the progression of my own life and mental states over the last several months, moving from a place that was more chaotic and unstable into a place that’s more peaceful and solid.

Now when I paint in warmer tones, such as yesterday (featured in Studies in Warmth), it’s by choice and not necessarily because that’s how I’m feeling. I still have to explore and analyze my negative emotions, but it’s from a perspective of hindsight much of the time now, rather than being up in my face in the present.

Still, I will be interested to see how warmer tones manifest in my paintings in the future now that I do not feel quite so angry all of the time. Which is not to say I’m not still angry sometimes, but I seem to deal with it better. Perhaps those colors will be more cheerful and less temperamental, as they can be.