Inspiration?
People frequently want to know what inspires me to create the images that I do. I often wonder about that myself.
While I ponder that question now, my mind naturally drifts to the thought of a flower opening up and turning to face the sun. The scientific term for what is occurring when this happens is heliotropism. In simple terms, the flower is stimulated by the sunlight and physically moves from within to face that which will nourish it. I believe a similar process is taking place within me when I'm driven to paint my pictures. My stimulus being, not the sun, but the great questions of life. Questions like, "Why am I here?", "Where did I come from?", "Where am I going?"
These are just a few of the philosophical questions that surfaced in me as a child and still linger to this day. The pictures I create are the physical embodiment of facing these questions continually. So, just as the flower is naturally drawn to face the light in order to grow......I too am simply moved to do so from within.
Why?
What I've grown to realize is that I'm really not looking for answers in this endeavor. It has become more a matter of intentionally exercising my thought process in hopes of learning how to ponder ever greater questions. Because a question, by its' very nature, will stimulate further thought where an "answer" might limit it, I choose to focus on the questions for the intention and purpose of thinking beyond what I've been expected to believe are "Answers".
Why Surrealism?
Surrealism is a very natural way of expressing a version of the world free of the elemental laws that limit the body and govern our Earthly existence. With things like gravity and time removed from the scene of a surreal painting, our consciousness is then free to explore and discover a new horizon with all the wonder and possibility of a new born. Similar to the way our eyes fell upon the world before we understood any of it's natural laws or our own inherent physical limitations, so too are we again able to view our world with fresh eyes and perhaps even challenge our current belief system from an entirely new perspective.
I hope you enjoyed finding out a little more about me. I appreciate you taking the time to visit www.glenplourde.com and view my artwork. If you have further questions for me regarding my work and want to drop me a line, feel free to send me an E-mail or write an entry in my guestbook.
Sincerely,
Glen Plourde
Glen Plourde’s paintings and print reproductions are in private collections all over the United States. His works have been featured in magazines such as, Art Business News and Colorado Homes and Lifestyles and have graced both a calendar for KBCO Radio in Boulder Colorado and CD cover for the band Mindscape. Original oils also appear repeatedly in the set of the “Mind Matters” television show in Boulder Colorado.
Glen Plourde is represented by The Den Gallery in Denver Colorado and Serendipity Gallery in North Scottsdale Arizona. His most recent shows include The 2005 Celebration of Fine Art in Scottsdale Arizona, and the 2004 Cherry Creek Arts Festival in Denver Colorado.
