It’s always About time — Alison Lee Schroeder

Over the past few years, I have paced the aisles of my mind and the square footage of my studio unlike ever before. I have not worked more in the studio because I have had more time, but because I have had a much greater need. The work I make provides me with escape, solace, companionship, and hope. In a time rife with uncertainty, having an artistic discipline has given me a steady reminder of its gifts: mystery, curiosity, and surprise.

Treading Water,

Acrylic on paper

9 x 11”, 2021.

Over the past few years, I have paced the aisles of my mind and the square footage of my studio unlike ever before. I have not worked more in the studio because I have had more time, but because I have had a much greater need. The work I make provides me with escape, solace, companionship, and hope. In a time rife with uncertainty, having an artistic discipline has given me a steady reminder of its gifts: mystery, curiosity, and surprise.

Lukewarm

Oil on paper

5 x 7”, 2021.

Painting is rooted in time. It is about noticing and contemplation, both for the painter and the viewer. While painting, I spend time feeling the emotion of different places, people, memories, and aspects of myself. As I work through those moments, they transform from something only I can feel, into something that others can also feel, each in their own way. Like many things in life, all the time that painting takes, it is also giving.

Pick your feet up off the ground

Acrylic and homemade gouache on canvas

11 x 14”, 2021

Connect

Ink on paper

5 x 7”, 2021

When I first began to practice discipline in painting (which has been my first and thus far deepest encounter with discipline outside of activities of daily living), what became clearest fastest was that consistency released pressure. If I hadn’t painted in a long time, I would overthink whatever I made, and re-entry would be difficult. If I painted every day, it wouldn’t matter much if I made something that I didn’t love, because I knew that there was always yesterday and there would always be tomorrow, and on both of those days I would be painting. As time has passed and making artwork has become more engrained in my daily life, feelings of doubt and thoughts about success vs. failure have more easily revealed themselves for what they are, and have—for the most part and on most days—alleviated. Painting has become once again what it was to me when I was a kid: a language, a lifeboat, a friend.

Breathe,

Acrylic, gouache, and ink on paper

8 x 10”, 2021.

Writing to you today, I have a few projects in the works—some brand-new, others developing ideas from previous efforts. One thing I am already working on is a series of small oil paintings. To me, oil is simultaneously seductive/rich/corporal/the best paint—and also (even though I have used it since I was 12) still difficult/unapproachable/in some ways intimidating. Water-based media has been my go-to as a parent, a person with a day job, an artist with a small studio next to her bedroom. I am making the choice, one painting at a time, to confront the little hurdles that oil paint presents to me, knowing that what I want from it is bigger than its inconveniences. I look forward to seeing what happens, and hope you follow along as well.

Today I am sharing some of the works that helped me through last year, as well as the first two weeks of this one.

If you’d like to learn more about me and my work, schedule a studio visit (virtual for the time being) or ask about purchasing a piece, please contact me. If you have thoughts about my work, or just want to say hi, please feel free to reach out.