Inside Gallery

These paintings are various in their style. They are united by the method in which they were painted. This method is basically to not think, but to stand before a canvas and simply paint. An image comes from nowhere and I paint it, entering into the painting and the process. It has always been difficult for me to describe the paintings verbally. I have felt that this is okay, as the paintings express themselves. Their messages are not simple, yet distinct feelings, experiences, and associations are made by the viewer. When I learned of Zen I knew that Zen described my process, and traditional Zen painting was described as using this same process. So, in a sense, they are contemporary American Zen paintings. These paintings serve to express all of that which goes on in the mind. I have called them self-portraits, but they are more than that. I express all manner of internal experience, which is not unique to me. In many ways, as I deliberately suppress my intellect while I paint, I am simply a vehicle through which the paintings are created. I recieve images and I paint them, as best I can. Thus I have felt that they come from some creative force beyond me. I pass on these visions, for the reflection of all, so that they may understand the nature of that which is within. Enjoy! Click on the titles to see larger versions of each picture.

All images herein: Copyright Gwen Goertzel 1999. All Rights Reserved.
Lounging in the Yard
oil; 1992; 18x26
Glowing Sun People
oil; 1996; 20x30
Sun People, bright and bouncy, exploded and expanding...
Herstory III
oil;1996; 40X40
Herstory is a mini series of paintings consisting of five paintings. The painted collage, as I call it, represents woman. It consists of a collection of images from a woman's life and experience. The five paintings represent five different women. Different coloring and shading completely changes the mood of the same experience.
Herstory IV
oil;1996; 40X40
Herstory V
oil;1996; 40x40
Ooth Goddess
oil;1998;60x70
Oothldywonk Charade was a people mind collage I painted in 1987 on a large canvas. In 1989 I cut it up and reconstructed it. Pieces from the original OOthldywonk Charade have been used to create numerous paintings. This one I considered to be a Goddess, and from the origins of the Oothldywonk, she became the Ooth Goddess...