MEIGHAN LEIBERT

But for art, one needs nobody; we depend solely on ourselves. Art! I picture it to myself as a great light yonder, very far off; and forgetting everything else, I will walk with my eyes fixed on that light.

(The Journal of Marie Bashkirsteff, London, 1890)

Ten years ago I asked my friend and neighbor, Dona, to teach me how to paint. Once a week she would set up a still life and tell me to have at it. At first I painted what I saw, in time I learned to paint what I imagined. I negotiated around my fear of trying something new and the risk of failure to give birth to a deep feeling of empowerment.

In painting, I found a voice to communicate my interpretations of life. I am fascinated with the illusion of space and reality on a two-dimensional surface. Intense color has always been a constant in my effort to relate a visual drama that resonates. The malleability of oil pigment lends itself to immediate changes and it is this aspect of flexibility that intrigues me the most. As much as I love the finished piece, my passion is rooted in the process of making. There is no greater feeling than the experience born out of concentrated effort. All of what I am goes into my paintings, they are tangible manifestations of my truer self.