About Robin Walker
Art is entertainment! Looking at art should be a fun experience as we’ll as an enriching one. To me, design and decoration are not bad words. Design and decoration are invitations to see something new, and to live with bigger ideas every day. A pretty picture, or an unusual attention-getter often has more to offer than at first glance.
My art draws you in with color and brushwork, then lets you wonder “What’s going on here?” Your dialogue with the painting is crucial to the understanding of it, so I work to build a story, but with pieces missing. You get to finish the story.
In addition to being an artist, I’ve been a family therapist for more than 25 years, helping families and children with life’s struggles. I’ve learned that the simple concepts are the ones that mean the most to people: Kindness, Patience, Emotional Connection, Wisdom and Humor. These are the ideas which I put into my paintings. My work is almost always psychological.
When I was a young graduate student in psychology, it suddenly dawned on me that, secretly, I had always wished to be an artist. In high school, I denied my intuitive self, diligently avoiding every art class, but always being curious about art. Then, at age 25, I finally had to recon with my true self.
I was very practical, though, and wasn’t about to abandon my studies in psychology. But, what kind of therapist denies his feelings while helping others to find theirs? So, I vowed to teach myself to paint and I haven’t stopped painting since.
My art practice and my therapy practice have become one. My office is an art studio and my art studio has a consultation area. What a career!
I use acrylic paints on paper or canvas with collage pieces from magazines and charcoal and splashes of rubbing alcohol for texture. I love expressionist painting because its goal is to show the mind of the maker. Expressionist artists seek to express meaning or emotional experience rather than physical reality. We rely on imagination, rather than seeking to accurately render an image. Expressionist art is about the human need to mark one’s presence on earth. "I am here and this is my experience.” Seeing expressionist works helps the viewer to see existential possibilities.