I learned something today, that artist's have something like what a business has, a mission statement or more appropriately, an artist's statement. I didn't know that and I've been working with art and artists for over ten years now. I'll get more into what these statements are in a moment but first, I want to talk about an Australian artist, Belinda Marshall, whom I found over the summer and quickly fell in love with. In fact, I've added some of her paintings and prints to my online shop (here) and I stock her 2015 wall calendar too. My very favorite piece is this first painting shown below called crystal, a print of an original painting of hers, that I think is absolutely delicious. I just adore the almost acid yellow in this size. Yum. I dream of this print at night, that's how much I love it. It makes me crazy happy.

I also really like her work shown on these pieces of fabric, hung as banners. What a gorgeous piece this is.

I love Belinda's artist statement, "My work is an exploration of emotional reactions to the beauty within my immediate environment. A connection to my experience of an idyllic country landscape during childhood drives the need to portray the beauty found in domestic settings and urban landscapes in my work. My works depict my vision of a perfect world - a calm, meditative space - communicated through layers of colour blocks and sections of representative imagery and repeat pattern. I focus only on what resonates and draws me in. By expressing observations of beautiful objects and moments in my work, I aim to create a space for the viewer to form a deeper connection to his or her surroundings and to access the contentment that can be experienced from this process."

And a big by the way, do you know what an artist statement is? According to wikipedia, "An artist's statement (or artist statement) is an artist's written description of their work. The brief verbal representation is about and in support of, his or her own work to give the viewer understanding. As such it aims to inform, connect with an art context, and present the basis for the work; it is therefore didactic, descriptive, or reflective in nature.".

I think we all need a statement, artist or not, in any field we're in. What would yours be?

(images: belinda marshall)