When Paintings Talk to You

Hello Again –
Today it is about pausing 
long enough to listen.
Then conversations happen,
human and non-human

When Paintings Talk to You

A Moment at Dawn

I once stood quietly watching a rescued wild mustang at dawn. His mane caught the first light, and the rhythm of his breathing and movement pressed softly into the space between us. I fell in love in that instant.
But most of us will never meet a wild or rescued animal up close. And that’s where my paintings began to speak.

Kindness That Transforms

Kindness to animals is transformative—not the abstract kind you read about, or admire from a distance, but the lived, felt kind. It unfolds naturally when we simply pay attention, without expectation. It can bring a softening, a quiet awareness of care and connection. It’s the lived experience of opening to another being—something that stirs our hearts in ways words can’t capture.

But what if you couldn’t be there in person? Could art carry that experience?

Paintings as Conversations

Each painting I create starts with the experience of deep connection with a real animal. I’ve spent time with donkeys, wild and rescued horse, foxes, and rescued moon bears and many more—simply being in the still space between us, not thinking, with no agenda. Often there is just a stillness but other times there is a download or insight that that I cant explain. But I can express in paint.

When someone sits with the painting—pausing long enough to drop out of their head and into their senses, into the quiet of simply being—a unique conversation can unfold. Not in words, but in whatever way comes through for them. At its best, the painting becomes a conduit, a mirror, a bridge.

This isn’t about technique or art history, though those things can be lovely. It isn’t therapy, or even just self-expression. And it isn’t only my voice. The animal, the moment, the encounter—everything I felt, everything that touched me—is in the work. When you meet the painting, it meets you exactly where you are.

Feeling the Connection

Sometimes it’s subtle: a soft warmth in the chest, a thought that arrives unexpectedly, a quiet clarity. Sometimes it’s profound: a flood of empathy, a sense of connection that carries far beyond the canvas.

Even if you’ve never met these animals in person, it’s possible to experience something deeply meaningful, no matter how small. Falling in love with one being can ripple outward—fostering compassion for a species, and maybe even for the wider world.

~ In the end we will protect only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught.~ — Baba Dioum

Pause and Listen

Next time you encounter a painting—mine, or any art that draws you—pause, be still, listen. Let it speak. Don’t judge it. Let yourself feel whatever arises, in your own way, in your own time.

You don’t just look at paintings. See if there is a conversation waiting to happen. Maybe yes, maybe no.  Allow curiosity to guide you.

In the words of David Attenborough –

~No One will protect what they don’t care about,
And no one will care about what they have never experienced.~

Lovely to see you here again. 
Stay creative in your world.… blaze