Page 21 - the NOISE August 2013

Save the Aspen by Lyn Matthew, who teaches at her downtown studio. is featured at Mountain Oasis, and is a part of Open Studios this month.
wide circle surrounding 12 candles. We had two drummers and we danced around the circle singing prayers to save them, our long skirts swirling as we carried paper Aspen. The painting, Aspen Ceremony, is my memory of that ceremony years ago.”
“When I talk about my figurative art, I tell people I am composing and telling a story,” Ms. Matthew says of her art. “Most of my art is painted from memory, at times I start with a photo, but merely for reference. My initial drawing on canvas often shifts as the story changes. The composition is not always the same when the painting is completed. I am the storyteller and the story is not finished until the painting is complete. Once the story is complete, I can write it and include it with the painting.”
“I did that with Masquerade,” Ms. Matthew tells me and elaborates about this particular piece. “I wrote a story about the figure in the painting,” she says. “In the past she felt uncomfortable and had a difficult time be- ing herself. During her day, she wore many masks. You see her in the painting releasing the masks one by one. As shown by her fa- cial expression, she loves each and every one and studies each one carefully before put- ting them away. She clutches a mask under her arm, one that is hard to give up. She asks,
‘Who am I?’ and decides to keep this mask. It is her identity. The story is available in verse form, in my studio, on First Friday ArtWalk.”
Dance has always been an inspiration, and has in many forms woven its way into her paintings. The Contra Dancers at Heritage Square inspire another new work of Ms. Mat- thew’s, and she tells me about the progres- sion of this piece.
“Last summer I watched the Contra Dancers perform at Heritage Square and even danced a round of dance with them,” she tells. “The
Contra Dance painting is from my memory and photos of that experience. I wrote a story about dancers and how they get out of control. When that happens they dance right off the canvas with paint dripping down their backs. They leave a trail of paint as they snake down the hall and out the door to the parking lot. I leave the studio and find them later in the forest, dancing with the wildflow- ers or under the shaking aspen leaves. Next day, I start a new dancer painting with new costumes and new steps and more dancers to keep track of. What is a painter to do?”
Spirit Mate, a painting that came to Ms. Matthew when a friend asked her to con- tribute to a book he was writing. “I told him I could not write the story until I painted it,” Ms. Matthew says. I cannot tell you the story be- cause the painting is not finished yet. Come to the show and you will see it and maybe you, the viewer, can write the story to go with the painting. I would actually be interested to read what people write so I have decided to put a box in my studio for people to sub- mit stories.”
Ms. Matthew tells me a bit about what she has been working on as an artist lately, “I spent the year figuring out how I could suc- cessfully show my figurative work along with landscapes, and finally gave up and decided it is a natural thing to do since I paint both. I think eventually I may publish a book of short stories about the paintings. As a painter, I work in an eclectic manner. I don’t follow the same rules as those I have been taught to follow. If I attend a class, most instructors are horrified by the way I mix paint and work with my palette. So, I decided to teach oth- ers to paint. How ironic! But there are some rebels out there who want to paint purely for enjoyment and find my style of working to be right down their alley. I have private students
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thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news • AUGUST 2013 • 21