Ingrid Dohm

Philosophy

My paintings capture the intensity and the very essence of my relationship to art. Floral images, from earliest childhood, have always remained the lynchpin that would lead me to further explorations for my artistic expressions.

I have seriously attempted other avenues of expression, such as portraits and abstract painting, but personal satisfaction has always eluded me.

Even in painting landscapes, a floral image may crop up here or there and often overtake it to become a floral landscape or a floral garden landscape. Still life suffers the same fate.

PERSONAL STATEMENT

The raison d’etre for my floral and landscape paintings can be traced directly to the influences that surrounded my early childhood. Born and raised in a small town in Austria near forests, glens and mountains, I was constantly seeking out the many varied kinds of floral beauty which is ever present in this land. During the summer months, in a high mountain lake enclosure, my siblings and I would make daylong forays into the forested areas solely to see what kinds of flowers we could encounter. A difficult find, but a most sought after one, was the edelweiss. This was so because one had to climb up the side of a mountain to see them growing as an outcropping in the rocks. This would become the trophy of the day! Another favored sight was the Christrose, commonly called the Schneerose or snow rose, because it could be seen popping up out of the snow cover on the ground.

In school I was always fascinated with any instrument be it pen, pencil or crayon, that could make anything from a strait line to a complicated image. I really never understood at the time why I had this strong attraction for art supplies, never could make the connection between it and my love of nature.

It wasn’t until I came to the United States and married that the association was made. A casual remark by my husband, that I had a natural talent and propensity to draw and paint, made me realize that I ought to get going. A starter paint kit was purchased and that’s the beginning of the story.


"For me a picture . . . . should be something likable, joyous
and pretty - yes, pretty. There are enough ugly things in life
for us not to add to them."

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1910


"Beauty is - this is another no-no. For a long time now we've been told that if it's beautiful, it must be bad. It must be corny, it must be no good. I think that's a fashion issue. And as far as I'm concerned, I don't care about it. You know, beauty happens sometimes, and if so, I'm going to go with it.

. . . . . . I'm not going to paint an ugly painting to get applause."

Janet Fish, 1999