With great joy, I share with you a dream come true - an artistic collaboration of dancer Rachel Quiner, songwriter and performer Janelle Briggs, and myself as the painter. May it inspire you in your journey of becoming. Rachel Quiner Becoming (youtube link) written and performed by River Briggs Music (Janelle Briggs) Becoming; 2021; 2021;…Read more Becoming
art process
When the Physical Expresses the Spiritual
Tonia Nifong and Evelyn Wyss, 40:31 Dance Collective of Colorado Springs, "Hide me in the cleft." I am currently intrigued by the idea of the physical body as a seed for our eternal being, as a tangible hint of transcendent truth. Through artistic studies, I'm ruminating: What if our visceral beings germinate in the soil…Read more When the Physical Expresses the Spiritual
The Artist as Sower
If I create the seeds myself, hold them in my hand, they blow away in the wind like so much chaff. But if He creates the seeds, if He scatters them, that is an altogether different harvest... Both belong to Him. Seeds 1; 2021; 9" x11.75"; mixed media: watercolor, acrylic, ink, graphite, chalk, pastel. Seeds…Read more The Artist as Sower
The Deaf Dog Who Heard What Matters
Strange that I would start painting again, after falling off into deep discouragement earlier this year, with Henry as my subject. But Henry was truly special. He was completely deaf. In a household clattering with four active kids, that was a blessing for him. And in a family with special needs kids, his disability endeared…Read more The Deaf Dog Who Heard What Matters
The Lies Artists Battle
Sometime in January, my heart froze over. I just gave up, like when a blizzard hits and you cancel all your plans, resigned to curl up with your book and your cup of coffee. Like a glazed creek covered in white that refuses to move, I stopped even feeling the desire to paint. The perfect…Read more The Lies Artists Battle
Art on the Altar
Last year, 2017, dawned hopeful. At long last, I stood before a faint but visible trail in the forest. After years of scrambling in the brambles, I set off down the path. I stumbled on the trail-head in a gallery in the Santa Fe Arts District of Denver. Late in 2016, I responded to a…Read more Art on the Altar
Shattering Into Light (2)
There is a tragedy that stalks me year after year. The precipitating event is over and done with, resounding in its finality; but the repercussions morph through time. It is a question with no answer, a terrible wrong that cannot be righted, a haunting that cannot be exorcised. Sometimes I am angry. Like Edvard Munch's…Read more Shattering Into Light (2)
Artist Process – All That’s Lost
I've been pondering an idea lately that what is “lost” does not actually cease to exist, but simply morphs into another form of equal (or perhaps greater) value. Of course this idea is not original, but is a basic principle of physics. Definition of conservation of energy (Merriam Webster) “a principle in physics: the total energy…Read more Artist Process – All That’s Lost
The Power of a Line
Lines are powerful. I'll never forget the first time I leaned in close to examine a graphite line drawn by Van Gogh. The shimmering dance of the stroke, straight from the master artist's hand, absolutely enchanted me. Lines, as my college professor taught, can whisper and shout. For this painting, I allowed myself to feel; and…Read more The Power of a Line
Believing What I Can’t See
Many times for me, painting is a language I speak to myself – to affirm what I know to be true and thus to persuade my own heart to believe. The physical world around me, in a similar way, constantly whispers metaphors to me concerning spiritual truths. In this painting, for example, I wrestle with Newton's third law…Read more Believing What I Can’t See
Colleen Briggs Art & Writing 