Linda S. Watson is a painter and mixed media artist currently working and living in the Puna district of the Big Island. She studied Fine Art, Textiles, and Art History at San Francisco State University. For over 30 years, her creations have been exhibited in many Bay Area solo and group art shows as well as the Palo Alto Cultural Center, the Mendocino Art Center, the Olive Hyde Gallery in Fremont, the Main Library in San Francisco, and the Overlook Gallery in Sonoma. Her works are owned by private collectors throughout America. Linda feels privileged to be part of the Big Island’s thriving art community exhibiting at the Volcano Art Center, the East Hawai’i Cultural Center, and the Wailoa Arts and Cultural Center.
Occasionally people ask me why I paint abstractions, despite my classical training as an artist. I paint abstracts because early on I discovered that there is infinitely more to art than just painting reality. Painting in this manner gives me the freedom to throw out all the rules. Abstraction allows me to tap into my feelings, intuition, and inventiveness, and work in a more spontaneous manner. I enjoy a creative process in which nothing is “wrong” and the joy comes from playing with materials, colors, shapes, ideas, and design. I invite the viewer to share with me the intangible mysteries that abstract forms evoke.
The volcano inspires me. Before my first visit to the Big Island in 1998, volcanoes filled me with fear. However, after extensive research and many more vacations, I eventually became comfortable with the idea of living near one. I discovered a beauty in lava forms. I became enthralled with the myths and legends of Pele. Like an Impressionist painting, the landscape of this island shimmers with a rich iridescence which I try to capture in my work.
