Art

History

September 14, 2021 - By Natalie Buske Thomas

Watch this oil painting of the day (July 23, 2020) that the Statue of Liberty in New York City looked to have been struck by a lightning bolt, go from blank canvas to finished art in about 2 minutes (time lapse).

It’s easy to feel as if this amazing and powerful weather event is something more, something metaphorical, symbolic- a portent perhaps. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know me as mainly a nature and faith painter, not a historical or political one. But sometimes I am deeply moved by something that happens and I put it to canvas.

In this way, I feel that I contribute to a time capsule of sorts, and one day my work might be included when people of the future study this period in history. I believe that I represent a perspective that is marginalized, while the overwhelmingly recorded view is falsely promoted as “marginalized” work that needs more attention. No, untrue. There is an agenda that is recruited, and there is certainly no shortage of opportunities for those artists who fall in line. What we are missing is something real, beyond the propaganda and the ideology of those who control art and free speech.

I paint what I feel, period. I do not answer to anyone. I do not bend. If it means that I will be forever an entrepreneur doing solo shows, that’s fine by me, because I love having creative freedom. I believe strongly that we need artists who create an authentic witness of history to add to the time capsule of collective works that will one day be discovered by others. We need more sides to a story, more perspectives, more shades, more authenticity, more truth, and more empathy for how it feels to be a human being living in this age. I am blessed to use my talents for this purpose, and I hope that many more will be inspired to join me in adding genuine personal perspectives so that the future isn’t written by those who wish to control us, but is recorded by those who want to set us free.