Interview
Judy Walker
Zen painting is free, effortless, natural painting. There is no planning, thought, or struggle. When engaged with Zen painting, the painter and the painted are one. Zen painting runs counter to the usual academic and conceptual methods for creation of artwork. In Zen-fashion, the consciousness goes deep beneath the surface, uncovering patterns that change and flow moment by moment. Judy’s paintings are done with watercolor, and metallic watercolor, on Yupo paper, then sealed with an archival sealer. Judy was born in 1956 in Denver, Colorado and raised in Colorado Springs, CO, USA. She was educated at Colorado College, University of Colorado and Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. She is a visual artist who creates abstract watercolors and in addition has used her photography to document her life in Blues and now in Serenbe.
Walker has exhibited in Colorado Springs, Guangzhou, China, Pasadena, Glendale, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Serenbe, Fayetteville and Trilith. Her work is in private collections of Boz Scaggs, Robert Cray and many musicians and friends, as well as Serenbe residents. A body of her work has appeared in the TV mini-series “The Secret Lives of Trudy Chase” staring Shelley Long. She started the Chatt Hills Artist Co-op in Chattahoochee Hills, GA, and is part of the Curator Group that handles the exhibits at Enzo in Trilith-Fayetteville, GA.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“My art was kickstarted by taking an independent oil painting class taught by Herman Raymond, who was the art director of the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, where I lived, when I was 19. I created a portfolio that gave me advanced standing at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. I started my style of watercolor then, and have kept it up all these years.”
What inspires you?
“I am inspired by my interior life, and by the natural world. I live in a community outside Atlanta called Serenbe, it is in the woods of Georgia where I walk every day. The changing seasons influence the colors I intuitively choose, sometimes I’m not even consciously aware of my choices until a painting is hung next to a window where I see the direct influence of the change of the leaves in the forest.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“The message is ‘no message.’ I try to clear my mind prior to painting and drop into a groove, much like a musician does, rhythmically responding to inner musing. Perhaps, that will change with new work. Like all of us, it is impossible to shut out the happenings in the world. I think it is the highest order of an artist to want to bring things to light, literally and figuratively. Understanding that by ‘mattering’ to myself, I give the observer the space to see what matters to them. That somehow the color and movement in the painting is found to be inspiring to a viewer to feel differently each time they see the painting.”
How would you describe your work?
“I am an abstract expressionist pattern painter who works in watercolor and mixed media on Yupo paper. The smooth surface of the Yupo allows the paint to flow and have a life of it’s own beyond what I originally put on the paper. Prior to the paint drying, it finds it’s own course, moving and mixing on the surface until it is dry.”
Which artists influence you most?
“Joan Mitchell, Mark Toby, Lee Mullican, Maria Viera da Silva and Anni Albers.”
“The message is ‘no message.’ I try to clear my mind prior to painting and drop into a groove, much like a musician does, rhythmically responding to inner musing.”
What is your creative process like?
“I start with the size of the paper, I prefer Yupo paper because I can work in large size, roll it out and it remains flat. Then, I select the colors that I want to work with and begin with gestures. I build the painting out from an initial gesture. I usually paint around that gesture after it dries, and the background is painted in one sitting, taking hours, so the paint can mix and run together creating a blending. Then, I see if the art is successful after it dries, if not I wipe out, work over, and perhaps put acrylic and/or metallic on the top.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“I can only speak to my role in society, and that is, to further art and artists in my community. To give validity to the act of creation, to add beauty to the world, to speak in visual language that sparks something in the viewer. To encourage other artists to do the same, to experiment, to share, to change and allow the art to change and evolve.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“From 2016-2024, I have been the Director of the Chatt Hills Artist Co-op in Serenbe in GA. With 12-17 members we have done exhibits every two months in The Chatt Hills Gallery. We have recently closed the gallery. I am also represented by Dogwood Gallery in Tyrone, GA. I am a part of The Curator Group, that has organized 3 exhibits a year for Art at Enzo Restaurant, in Trilith, in Fayetteville, GA.”
Website: www.judywalker.art
Instagram: @judywalkerdesign
