Eloise Larson
Born and raised in Iowa in the middle of the 20th century limited my experience of the world. I always had a need to do “something.” What was this “something”?
I was the kid who invented a grandiose plan for every idea.
By sixteen, I was sure I was an artist. Plagued with ideas and driven by a need to do the “something”, I was constantly creating. Everything was plausible. At twenty, I was painting seriously.
Pursuing that “something” I moved my family to Alaska in 1982. My life was full of teaching school, mothering two daughters, and maintaining a studio.
Searching again for that “something”, in 2005, my husband and I moved to Northern California to be close to a Buddhist monastery. Nearby, in the mountains, is my home and studio.
There, I “Set sound down” *. Within this “nothing”, I may glimpse the “something”.
*Ajahn Chah
MOTHER
Artist Statement
Mother’s Completion My mother's life ended naturally at the age of 100 during the height of COVID. She was 1500 miles away in a nursing home. To be together, we had regular FaceTime conversations. As we talked, I would snap screen shots of her. They are a record of her contented completion. Looking at these photos it is evident that she was fine with dying. Like a stream, she flowed wider and wider, spreading out thinner and thinner until disappearing into the earth. Our awareness of each other shaped the paintings. They arose quickly. When I got a glimpse of her, I put the brush down and walked away.
Immeasurable, 2021