Hope Cunningham Tucson Artist

My mother and I once had a conversation about my passion for observing and documenting the world around me. As a result of that conversation I realized that for me, art is about love. Love for light, form and color. Love for the unique qualities of the person sitting before me. Love, too, for the feel of the brush, the smell of linseed oil, the solitude of the studio and the works of many great artists who I admire.
The gift of focused and thoughtful attention is an act of love. The blessing of the artist is the ability to step out of the busy flow of daily life to attend to the grace found in quiet observation. When I paint or draw, there is something about that moment of inspiration that made me glad to be alive.
Tolstoy described Art as the "transfer of emotion from one person to another”. This is my goal as an artist, to communicate something of my experience of life.