AMERISTAR GALLERY emerging ARTIST series

The Ameristar Gallery is home to the Foundry Art Centre's Emerging Artist Series.
Artists fresh on the art scene can display their work to introduce their style to the local art community. 

j. howard

Water Expressions

August 4 – September 15, 2017

I find that my identity is literally submerged in the beauty and concept of water as it pertains to being a symbol of life. My artistic goal has always been for my art to be an expression that, hopefully, invokes emotion within the viewer. My inspiration comes from personal observations of water and how it reflects beauty while sustaining vast amounts of beauty. As I strive to best represent my own personal character, my mission is to illustrate the beauty of God around us as it is reflected in the presence of water and the many colors of the rainbow. Water is life and color is the promise of such.

For water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge yourself into it, you must allow yourself to feel its caress. Soak up its playful movement and incredible reflection of color. Such is life and how it should be lived. Water is not solid, so it will not stop you; nor, will life itself. Water truly is Life. And as water goes where it wants to go, so should we. Nothing in the end can
stand against water. It is a miracle of God's own making just as we are. And water is patient. Over time, water can wear away stone. Any one individual has the power of patience, faith and perseverance. Live your life and be who you are…like water.

In addition to water, a great deal of my work involves women, which I believe reflects my grounded sense of strength in the fluidity of the liquid and how it can compare so eloquently to the female gender. As they have always said, "behind every great man is an even greater woman." For God placed upon women the responsibilities of compassion, inspiration and support. And I find that women are better in recognizing expression of emotions, the very thing I am hoping to invoke. The female advantage in emotional recognition becomes even more apparent under conditions of rapid presentation of stimuli. Hence the water and it’s play.

As an artist with the opportunity to exhibit a collection, I always strive to share the power of survival and having the faith to persevere against all odds. I believe that it is up to me, as an artist, to delve beyond just recognizing images and colors to using colors within the images for their inherent qualities, towards a specific end. I choose images with an abstractness and then colors to produce a certain mood or atmosphere; to create space, light, and shadow; or to introduce symbolic associations.