Escape With Me

I haven’t always liked stretching canvas and never thought I would be doing it on a regular basis but these days, it has become more of an adventure than a chore. It is the sponge that soaks up all the thoughts going on in my head. Having an overactive imagination since a very young age, it has always made sense to me that any artwork I develop should be composed of these vivid thoughts. What used to take form in crayons and pencil, evolved into pen and ink drawings, spray painted murals and computer graphics, and has further morphed into the acrylic paintings I create these days. My childhood obsessions with Disney cartoons, Lorne Greens’ New Wilderness and books such as Watership Down and The Phantom Tollbooth have become fodder for my work as it develops today. I have become increasingly interested in the rabbit holes we fall down when daydreaming. So many have created worlds in their art in which to escape and inhabit, and for others to enjoy. We have seen glimpses of them in Narnia, Wonderland, Middle Earth, Neverland, and Hanalee. As homage to these types and shadows of other lands, I have attached the all-encompassing title, My name is Lola, and I am a dreamer. I was born in 1975, but my age does not define me. My past has molded me into a genuine soul, I believe very strongly all things are for a reason. College was uneventful, yet taught me that I had the ability to find my own techniques and expression. My experience as a tattoo artist in the late 90's was incredible, yet only fulfilled 9 out of 10 of my necessary reasons to live as an artist. And demanded too much time out of my studio. I like to invent, imagine, and execute a place full of space where the world can evolve into a magical copacetic machine, sparing the disintegration of our earth and harm to innocent creatures and beings. If not for the ability to paint, my voice might become just another static white noise. We need harmony, lyrics, and a visual escape from reality, because reality has become somewhat of a nightmare. War, genocide, hunger, death, disaster, political disappointment. I paint to start a positive dialog amongst strangers. And I paint because it is my most precious gift in life. I sing through my brushes the way a Acrylic paint is fast drying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry. Depending on how much the paint is diluted (with water) or modified with acrylic gels, media, or pastes, the finished acrylic painting can resemble a watercolor or an oil painting, or have its own unique characteristics not attainable with other media.