When I first started painting in 1994, my work was filled with shadow. As an abstract artist, shadow is the journey inward, sometimes to places we think we don’t want to see. Shadow is the story that rattles around inside waiting to be told, and in the telling of the story, we find beauty in the shadow.

I have had a love/hate relationship with my shadow painting since my first one.

Early in my life as an artist, I was sorting through paintings with my BFF since fourth grade, Kelly. I kept on picking up pieces that I considered dark and filled with shadow and exclaiming dejectedly, “No one will want to hang this painting in their living room!”

Kelly would patiently reply, “I see your emotions run strongly with this work, but to me, it’s just a painting and it’s a painting I would want to hang in my living room. I see beauty. I see mystery. I find fascination.”

What I heard was, “I see light in your shadows.”

Purple LifeBlood, One of Three LifeBloods, ©2016 Alicia R Peterson Acrylic on linen, 30 x 24 inches. Photo: Peter Scheer 

Words to live by and yet I still struggle. I know some of my best paintings are my shadow work. So I am endeavoring to embrace my shadow both in my studio and in my life.

Stay tuned for more creations. I have my biggest sized canvas yet beckoning me into my studio in all its empty glory.