My paintings unfold from the simple joy of being present with myself, my tools, and the mood of the moment. Each canvas has its own unique personality. I begin with my own ideas, yet remain sensitive to what each one wants to become. A relationship develops. Being with my art is like being with the people I love. I never try to force myself on the process.

Of course the subject is important. It is the starting point. Yet when I look at a building in the city I feel inspired to take off all the sharp edges--make it more lyrical, more like nature. It is curved and sensuous, freeing the emotions like music does. Dream images weave into, and out of, everything. Yet I never try to create as a camera does. Oils are not intellectual. They are feelings which are converted into color and form. They weld themselves to a canvas through spontaneity. So I paint the experience of place, rather than the place itself.

I began my career after earning a B.A. degree in Art History. While in graduate school in Clinical Psychology I began painting seriously. I studied with Saundria Hu at the University of Houston Clear Lake, then finished my training at Glassell School of Art in Houston. I continued to paint, even though I kept a full time private psychotherapy practice. Later I taught in two universities, and conducted numerous creativity workshops. Now I paint in my studio in Austin Texas, and sometimes in the outdoors of the Pacific Northwest. Each is distinct, yet I think it is the difference between them which is so delicious.

www.terryteaters.com