Artist Detail

Robin Anderson, MA, LPC

Visual Artist

About the artist:

I grew up in the Midwest where I studied art at Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota. In 1984 I moved to Colorado, and have lived in the Manitou Springs area for over 15 years. I attended graduate school at the University of Colorado, where I received a masters degree in counseling and human services. Drawing from the magical world of my imagination, I have worked in many different mediums including oils, watercolor, pastels, clay, acrylics, found objects in nature and photography to create unique and expressive pieces of art. My recent works are multi-media, contemporary paintings. In addition to my own painting, I am the director of Studio rla, Expressive Arts Center in Manitou Springs, where I work with children, teens, families and individuals, using the arts as a mode for healing. I conduct one-day art workshops, using the touch drawing process, with teens and adults, and teach art to teens enrolled with FutureSelf. I am currently the president of the Manitou Springs Arts Council, and a member of the Memorial Hospital Arts Advisory Board.

Artist's Statement:

Imagination is experienced in magical moments when the impossible becomes possible. It is a place where the rules of reality have no impact. By freeing ourselves - letting go of that which confines us allows us to create from a space that is individual and unique, where art becomes an expression of the soul. My quest as an artist is to create without inhibition, from the world of my imagination. Touch Drawing has lit the path to that surprising and inspiring world. Touch Drawing is a very simple process. A smooth board is covered with a layer of oil paint, and then a sheet of tissue paper is placed over the paint. Wherever the paper is touched, an imprint is made on the backside. In one drawing session, I may do 20 to 30 drawings. I often use meditation and music as inspiration during this process. I begin to move my fingers over the paper without an intention of form or figure. Images emerge from the lines drawn, sometimes almost leaping out. To me, they represent inner sub-conscious workings, messages form my soul. I review each drawing afterward, absorbing it into my conscious mind. Now I begin to see more detail, forms that I may have not seen earlier. After the drawings have dried, I mount them on watercolor paper or canvas. The wrinkles in the tissue paper add texture. I then begin to add watercolor and pastels, to bring to life the images I have discovered. As I work, it is an intuitive force that leads me. The process is very satisfying, very freeing, and I am always amazed at what appears from the world of my imagination.

Check out Robin's web site at www.studiorla.net