About

Lynda Symons | The Grateful Artist

Taupo, New Zealand

 

Welcome friend.

I am in awe of the Master! In my art you see my humble attempt to imitate His phenomenal creativity and as I go about life to live with gratitude for His many gifts. The fruit of this gratitude is a harvest of joy!

My journey into the world of art started in earnest when I committed to a daily gratitude drawing while living in a remote community at the very tip of Cape York in Queensland, Australia. Gratitude played a large part  in my personal healing from the grips of depression. This daily quest to express my thankfulness in art form honed my drawing skills and the kind words and encouragement from friends propelled me on an adventure that I could barely have dreamed of.

Today gratitude has become a lifestyle and my art continues to be a wonderfully rewarding endeavour. Life now offers endless possibilities. I have a resilience that enables me to overcome the negatives that we invariably encounter and I look forward with anticipation to the unknowns of tomorrow.

My art also offers endless possibilities. Having previously worked mainly in pointillism and graphite I was encouraged into the world of colour by the caring hearts in the NPA (Northern Peninsula Area) who graciously included me in their art workshops. Under the guidance of the very talented Aboriginal artist, Arone Meeks, I discovered that I could use a brush as well as pencil or ink. Whole new areas of creativity immediately opened up, but it was not until we relocated back to our homeland of New Zealand that I was able to really begin to explore these new arenas.

This move saw the end of homeschooling our five gorgeous children and thus gave me time to begin exploring my new path. Joining the local Art Society in Taupo and being with like-minded people was a wonderful boost, especially with winning the People’s Choice Award on my first trial at exhibiting in 2014.  Since then I have been honoured with many awards and am deeply grateful.

To date I cannot say that I have found a preferred medium. Rather, I tend to look at the object of beauty before me and decide how best to portray the Master’s incredible creativity. After a walk through the native bush in New Zealand with my darling dearest and the dog, I am just as likely to decide on an acrylic painting applied with palette knife as an Indian ink wash. Or should the sunflowers be a loose watercolour or a luscious oil impasto on the canvas? Will the spirit of the person be better portrayed through a detailed charcoal and graphite or a colourful splash of mixed media? Who knows…maybe in time I will find myself tending to choose one over the others. For now I am just delighting in trying to capture the emotion I feel as I look at His amazing creations

I invite you to journey with me through the beauty I hope to capture in my art. Please leave comments and let me know which paintings resonate with you. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

creatively yours,

Lynda