J.M. Brodrick presents an exquisite collection of paintings where realism meets abstraction, evoking the wonder of the natural world. See more by visiting her website.
“Solitude” acrylic, 24″ x 20″
I’ve been painting since early in my youth with my grandmother, a professional artist from Helsinki, Finland. I grew up in a working artist environment. My grandmother helped me connect with other artists and shaped me at an early age to express myself with painting.
“After the Storm” acrylic, 36″ x 60″
Her words of wisdom still guide me in my work, as if I have her standing behind me giving advice on how to move through a passage in the painting.
“Misty Morning” acrylic, 30″ x 50″
At 17, I took the world on, taking a job at an insurance company and working my way up over a 37-year career. I learned every detail of the business while painting in my time off, weekends, and holidays.
“Enchanted Forest” acrylic, 38″ x 40″
I tend to paint what I love, from horses to landscapes to painting portraits. Portraits are the most challenging because the portrait has to actually look like the person you are painting. I learn something from every painting; no painting is ever a failure. I always gain skill or sometimes I say, “ I don’t want to do that again!”
“Grace” acrylic, 16″ x 12″
These days I no longer have outside employment. I’m often painting six to ten hours a day, fulfilling commissions for subjects all over the world. It’s a life’s vocation. It’s not work. It is what I choose to do and how I choose to spend my time.
“Floating on the Horizon” acrylic, 24″ x 30″
I’m working towards merging my need for realism with the beauty of pure abstract. It’s an ongoing process and I find challanging myself to keep pushing to discover new ways apply paint. Some work out and some are disasters, but moving forward in my work is all important to me. This means sometimes playing one color off the other in harmony much as a composer would use combinations of notes to form a symphony.
“Afterglow” acrylic, 38″ x 48″
Painting to me is more of a vocation, spending hours and weeks at a time painting away in my studio. To me there is no better way to spend your life.