The Artist's Statement

    The style of my painting, alla prima, reflects the style of my life – immediate, thoughtful, colorful and direct.  I believe art reflects life, and art, when really understood, belongs to every human being.  What applies in art applies in life: being present, learning to see, doing things with care and sharing what we love.  Art teaches you to know yourself.  In the end, we are our own best teachers, cultivating God’s gifts within us.  Our goal is to live life each day and learn to be there while we do it.  

    I have been an artist since I was a little girl, beginning oil painting in my teenage years.  By the time I went to college, I decided I already knew how to paint, so I did not major in art.  I now realize that learning to paint will take all of this lifetime.  I have many ribbons in a back drawer, including 10 best of shows.  Entering art shows taught me a lot, including how to look at myself and grow and to become more self confident; one can win without the ribbon or the prize.  I have studied through the years with artists I admire in the U.S. and Europe.  I spent many years doing life drawing and later spent seven months in France painting plein aire.  I have taught for many years, and probably will begin teaching again, as many are asking me to do this. 

     I believe art, like the written word, is a symbol.  Paint and words are merely different mediums.  In 1993 I combined art and writing, publishing a children’s book, which I both wrote and illustrated. Can We See God, was published by Winston-Derek, in Nashville.  Continuing my journey, I got a master’s degree in Theology, in 2002.  I had planned all along to combine art and theology; the question was how they might come together.  I did find a way.

      I have acted as a Chaplain in Crisis Ministries, a homeless shelter in Charleston, SC.  While there I  painted portraits of the homeless residents--on location, in oil, while they talk to me.  Yes, they loved to be painted and loved to have someone hear their stories.  I now have nearly 40 portraits.  When I have enough for a show, I hope to benefit both the shelter and myself.  It’s good for us to learn to see each other in this world. 

   The older I get, the more like myself I become.  I experience this in my art.  My style of art, like my handwriting, is identifiable as belonging to me.   I believe my brushstrokes will reflect the handwriting of my soul.   

                                                                  -----Carolyn Ter Poorten