JILL WATERMAN, PhD
When I retired from the UCLA Psychology Department in Summer 2013 after 32 years, I began thinking about painting. I’d always been interested in art but never pursued anything while I was a busy professor and mom of twins. In taking classes now for about 6 years, I have found watercolor painting to be a wonderful creative outlet, tension reducer, and way to explore a looser, freer way of being. In contrast to writing a professional paper or giving an academic lecture which is planned and rigorous, watercolor paints flow into each other, creating unexpected and interesting effects over which the artist has only partial control. As I am continuing to supervise students and see a few clients, I feel that I have become more intuitive, reflective and affectively attuned in my work as a result of painting. I also more frequently use art in my therapeutic interventions with children, which I find engages them as well as helps them access their emotions in a deeper way. I only wish I had started sooner to bring this wonderful creative endeavor into my life. Painting informally this past year has helped me better deal with the isolation of Covid though I really miss my in-person art class.
Tropical Fantasy during Covid
(Watercolor, 15” x 22”)
This painting expresses my longing to travel to and enjoy the tropical locales that I love to visit for swimming, snorkeling, hiking, exploring other cultures and relaxing. Especially as an older person who is more vulnerable to the virus, I have felt quite isolated with limited contact with my children and young grandchildren in the Bay area, as well as with friends and colleagues. I also realize how privileged I am to have a safe home, enough to eat, a fulfilling profession, and good healthcare. I often look at this painting and feel somehow comforted in imagining being in such a tropical paradise, and in fact sometimes use it as my Zoom background.