How To Surprise A Fifteen Year Old

As a 15 year-old, I wondered what my life would be like in the year 2000. I concluded that as I’d be a lot older there wouldn’t be too much excitement.

Detail from Village By The Shore by Ken Rasmussen

How surprised that young man would be if he could see me now, in 2019. Things are so much better than I thought they would be. I can hardly believe how much joy and artistic freedom I feel.

You can do the best paintings in the world but if you don’t work with the team, you can’t reach out to people. Now I’m working with my own support team, I can share my work with a global audience.

Through this website and the phenomenons of Instagram and Facebook, my experiments engage the wildest variety of people. This is so far away from the solitary life I thought was my destiny. I feel seen, heard and connected. It’s such a surprise to find myself liberated in this way.

I’m working on a new painting exploring the Canning River. I love discovering the pattern language of a landscape. What is it that brings this place to life and connects people?

I explore the pathways that people take and the natural world. I want to create moments of surprise and warm-hearted recognition. I want people to feel their own sense of place and belonging.

I never thought that I would be able to paint on this kind of emotional level. I also believed that, as a mature artist, there would be less opportunity. I am delighted to be wrong on both counts. I feel in the flow of an artistic adventure and I have to say, it’s great fun.

How surprised my teenage self would be.