Carrying the Landscape Within, Finding Solace in the Art of Joan Mitchell

On a trip to London with my husband, during an exhibition of my own, I found myself standing in front of a Joan Mitchell painting at Tate Modern. The sheer size and power of her work took my breath away. There is something elemental about her brushstrokes, something that feels primal and life affirming.

As I stood there, I read her poem Cobble Hill, which hung beside her paintings, and it spoke to my soul. I was so overwhelmed by her paintings that I sat on the bench in the gallery and just let her work grow inside me. It was as if I was absorbing the colours, the textures, the emotions she had poured onto the canvas.

I realised that Mitchell was painting landscapes that she carried within her, remembered feelings, emotions, and experiences. She was not trying to recreate nature, but rather to capture the essence of it, to transform it into something new and personal. And that is exactly what I try to convey in my own work. I paint the landscape not as it is, but as it leaves me, a mixture of memory, emotion, and intuition.

Like Mitchell, I do not aim to mirror nature, but to interpret it, to let it resonate within me and then translate it onto canvas. It is a personal and subjective process, one that is driven by feeling and instinct rather than representation.

As she says, “Painting is what allows me to survive.” I feel this too, it is a way of processing the world, of making sense of the emotions and experiences that shape me. Her words resonated deeply with me, and I feel grateful to have discovered a kindred spirit in Mitchell.

As an artist, I believe that we can learn so much from other great artists. When we encounter work that resonates with us on a deep level, it can be a transformative experience.

For me, Joan Mitchell’s art is that experience. I fell in love with her work, and it has inspired me to explore my own unique vision.

Her poem echoes in me still:

I carry

Your landscape

Inside me

A tree

A river

A sky

This poem, like her paintings, lingers in my soul and body, a reminder of the power of art to touch us on a deep level and stay with us forever. I am grateful for the resonance of Mitchell’s art and for the reminder that our experiences, though unique, are also shared.