Gutsy: Interview with an Artist
February 7, 2012 
This is Christopher Owen Nelson, a painter and the subject of a short film a friend and colleague is making. My friend asked me if I would interview Chris for the film and what followed was a coffee-fueled two hour conversation about how he knew he had to be an artist, what inspires him, his process, and the similarities between art making and fly fishing.
Chris has created a technique of carving and painting sheets of acrylic into vivid images of the natural world. There are a lot of trees in his work, and he told me that he thinks of painting them as portraits rather than landscapes. You've probably noticed by now how much I love both portraits and trees so this whole idea basically made me tingle.
Even in a weekend of snowy Colorado fun this stood out as a highlight for me.
I don't want to scoop the film, so I won't spoil too much about the conversation here. But I will share this: we talked about what it looks like when gutsy shows up in your heart, studio, work. Since I often get paralyzed in the thinking part of, well, everything, this part of his response struck me:
At some point, you just can't go around thinking your whole life. You've got to pour some resin into a mold. You've got to rip something out.
You've just go to do. Do.
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More doing. Less thinking. It was on my list of intentions for the year. Here it is, showing up again.
What does gutsy look like for you?
Chris Nelson, artists, film, gutsy, inspiration, interview, portraits, process | in journal
Reader Comments (4)
Ah, if I ever wondered why I stumbled on your blog, and added you to my reader...it was so that I could read these words, right here, today. Thank you!
Kelly - I'm glad you're being called into gutsiness. I think I am too but I just keep wondering what, exactly, this DO-ing is meant to look like. For me anyway, I think it needs to be about getting out of my own head, first and foremost. Ahhh... the biggest challenge of them all. Good luck in your gutsy.
I like that. Less thinking..less second-guessing...less fear. Just bravely jump. Just do! Perfect!
Less thinking and more doing, that would be such a welcome change in my life. This is a timely post Corinna; of late I've been anything but gutsy with respect to taking an artistic leap. Maybe this will get me doing.