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| Artist Statement |
I spent the first 20 years of my life close to the ocean where my family lived in Cuba, Miami, and Puerto Rico. Ocean life for me included learning to swim at Havana's seashore, trips to the Florida Keys, long weekends on Florida Beaches, avid surfing in Puerto Rico, and memorable snorkeling experiences in the Virgin Islands.
Several summers ago I went to my high school reunion in Puerto Rico. The trade winds, the lush tropical vegetation, the vibrant hues of the transparent sea, and the sensuous surge of the surf, filled me with an overwelming physical sense of homecoming.
Though middle aged and living in the mountains of Virginia, what I did with this eruption of energy and desire to merge with the sun and surf and sea of my youth, was begin painting again for the first time in decades. I watched ocean themed documentaries, read surfing magazines, browsed photographic books of coral reefs and rain forests, read Moby Dick, googled whale images, elicited whale and ocean tales from seafaring friends, and poured through old family photos from our days of living in the tropics. I reconnected to a lush warm world I dearly love.
I received my first college degree, a Bachelor of Fine Art in Painting, from Florida State University in 1974. I worked in many pink collar jobs not knowing how to create a living with my art. During these nonpainting years I have been busy working, raising children, earning a BSN and MSN degrees. I am now a Family Nurse Practitioner and a painter once again.
My intention is to share with you some of the sunlight, ocean, and natural lush beauty that still thrills, inspires, and energizes me.
To purchase my artwork, or discuss commissions, you may contact me at ashawhan@msn.com. |
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