ROBIN WALKER, LMFT

Being an expressionist painter and being a therapist require distinctly different skills! As a therapist, I seek understanding through empathy and deep thought. If I use those skills in painting, my work will be overworked, boring and derivative. For me to paint, I have to turn off analysis and understanding. If I think about what I’m painting I won’t do it. I’ll become crippled with “what’s that supposed to be?” My self awareness will kick in big time and I’ll never finish a single painting—it’ll never be good enough, and it won’t be genuine enough. So, when I paint, I just paint. It took a long time to be able to do that.

I’ve never had trouble choosing subjects. I paint what’s in me at a given moment or what plagues me, begging for attention. And I don’t ask “why.” I remain obedient to my creative urges, which I’ve learned over more than 30 years of both painting and clinical work. I’m a better person when I honor my creative urges.

Really Cool Harmonies
(Acrylic on wood panel, 24” High x 36” Wide) 

If you wanted to categorize my artistic style, you’d call me a neo-expressionist-abstract-figurative painter. I don’t feel the need to categorize myself, though. I just want to entertain my viewers and inspire them with a sense of freedom. For me, it’s not what you paint, but how you paint it. I try super-hard to make art that’s immediate and relatable, modern and energetic. I want to give my viewers permission to be less perfectionistic. Enjoy the feeling of not having to KNOW EVERYTHING.

I start with a color combination and an idea. For “Really Cool Harmonies,” it was blue and green and it would be about musicians. I liked the idea of being in harmony with others—something we therapists work at every day. I put an amazing amount of marks and layers on the panel (I like working on wood panels because of their rigidity and their ability to stand up to the beating I give them). I do this until I get lost and can’t find an image. That’s when I look for the image. That’s when the editing begins. I find faces and action and try to leave as much of the original marks and brushstrokes as serves the composition and theme.

“Maintain the Energy!” is my mantra while tweaking the image. Make it simple, but make it more complicated. Life lies in between the opposites. Between the head and the heart. Between heaven and earth. Tension!

I hope you’re entertained by my work. I love it when people feel “I could do that.” I hope you do. Self expression is a difficult and wonderful thing.

robinwalkerstudio@gmail.com
www.instagram.com/robinwalkerstudio