Artist Statement by Paula Montgomery

I love art.  I love to look at it and to create it.  Santa brought me my first set of oil paints when I was nine and a couple of years later, I won first place in an art show in my hometown.  The painting was an abstract with flowers.  Ever since, I’ve had a love affair with painting flowers.  My artistic process begins with a design concept and a color scheme.  From there, I smear paint on canvas, paper or board using colors that are complementary to the dominant color in my scheme.  I loosely sketch in the design and then apply paint and/or paper using brushes, palette knives, sponges, bubble wrap, textured fabrics, etc., to develop the composition.  I paint and scrape until shapes emerge that are pleasing to my eye.  My goal is to create images that are my unique creation.  For me, a rose is not a rose but merely an inspiration for something yet to come.  I feel I do my best work when I make it up as I go along.