Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lori Childers. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lori, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Painting takes time, a lifetime. It’s truly one of those long-game pursuits, with threads that lead you back to yourself, over and over again. I was interested in art and creative projects early, but I found myself looking over others’ shoulders. Thankfully, in college, my confidence grew, and I graduated with a degree in art from the State University of New York at Potsdam on the Canadian border. It was a great experience following my youthful artistic spirit in the far, far wintry north, snuggled in with friends and art supplies. It was us against the bitter cold, and with our creative spirits, we won for sure.
You’re asking about obstacles and how to speed up the process. All the answers are in the studio!
The only obstacle I had was when I put my brushes down. It’s common. I did what a lot of people do. I put my creative energy into family and work, started a business (a small town newspaper), and raised children. I never thought I would do art again. Honestly, I never thought about it. My creative energy was fully occupied elsewhere.
But I had a week off work, alone in the house, and a whole bunch of artful energy bubbled up out of nowhere, and I haven’t stopped since. That was 12 years ago. I’m doing art every day, full stop.
I think if you are an artist inside, then you grow as an artist even when you are not making art. Because of that, if I were to give any advice, I’d say to do small art things when you are otherwise occupied in life. Those small actions add up and build bridges to your future artist self. There’s so much support, inspiration, and learning available online now—exposure to all that is truly an amazing difference for many, especially for people raising families. It’s the good side of social media.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

It’s great to connect with all of you through this piece and to introduce my painting practice, which has really developed over the last decade. Through my art practice, I’ve been able to create a richer, more enjoyable life. There really is a life, art connection.
The opportunity to create on the canvas, to share and grow visually through paint, not only makes for interesting paintings but also a satisfying life. It is a privilege to have this painting practice where I can give my best and enjoy my deep love of painting. Awareness of all of this in my life creates positivity, joy, and inspiration. It’s both an internal and an external journey, with movement and progress that I know are integral to our human nature.

In the last 5 years, my paintings have been object-focused.
Slow-painted scenes depicting objects and forms from our shared cultural heritage, with iconic imagery such as a circus tent, a merry-go-round, and a toy airplane—vintage icons depicted in artful spaces of shared memory. Since we were young, we’ve collected experiences connected to the visual objects in our surroundings. There are threads in the paintings, connecting us back to ourselves or an imagined story that relates to ourselves.

Though the paintings are generally object-focused, they are also a formal exploration of painting itself. Each piece delves into the relationship between the object and its surrounding space on a two-dimensional surface, exploring composition and color in different ways. The objects and landscapes float in an unreal manner. This anti-gravity presentation opens the space for the viewer to bring their own viewpoint to each painting. By removing the natural horizon, there is freedom to make associations outside of physical reality.

The paintings feel recognizable and, in other ways, surprising.

New palette / new explorations

Recently, I’ve started a collection of abstract landscapes, actually bringing the horizon line back in this series! After years of painting it out, it feels fresh and powerful to give it a ride. I’m using a golden-warm, limited palette that seems to hold these landscapes in a place that feels so right. Color is central to my work, and this series has given me a way to explore color relationships with a subject that easily flows for me.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Art2Life, a global art education and coaching business headquartered in Sausalito California, is a fantastic resource for people developing a painting practice. It’s valuable for beginners to people with advanced art degrees. I would have shaved years off my learning if I had come across them earlier. Now I’m working on the Art2life team, bringing this good information to their global membership.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

People ask me about my painting practice and journey all the time. I imagine they have different reasons for asking, but the curiosity meter is high. The bottom line is that I really feel like I have something to say, visually. I enjoy the process of literally birthing that out and crafting it to be ever clearer and better. And, I’ll add that anyone can be an artist. The only need is desire.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lorichilders.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lorichilders100/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lori.childers/

Image Credits

For head-shot photo credit: Sorcha Augustine, Dance & Theatre Photographer