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Artist's Statement by Steve Brummé
One can never consent to creep when one has felt the impulse to soar. - Helen Keller
Why I paint
Long ago, my ancestors, the early Europeans, believed that creating an art piece, be it a dance or a painting, was the most effective way to communicate what was causing joy or sadness in one's heart. This communication occurred around evening firelight among friends and family. Art was created by every member of a community and it was created about every event that merited mention, whether a child was born or a marriage was celebrated. Several years ago, I began the marvelous journey of using my abilities as a painter to describe what my spirit was trying to communicate to me about events that affected my life. In other words, my paintings became the voice of my spirit.
As I began to share my paintings with others at one man art exhibitions, I was quietly surprised to find that other people felt drawn to my paintings for similar reasons to the reasons for which I created them. An investment broker bought the painting, The Puma, part of the Puma series, a painting about devouring fear, to hang in his living room. He later told me that every morning as he descends the stairs from his bedroom to the living room, he sees The Puma staring at him and he quietly asks the spirit for the courage to accomplish making a living that day and loving each individual who comes into his life. When the Counsel General purchased a Glycee of The Parting, part of the Child Angel series, a painting about trusting that those we love are safe when they depart, she told me that as the print hangs in her home, it helped her to understand that her husband, who had died the year previous, was safe and well protected. When the Brigadier General acquired a print of the Child Angel from the Balinese Trilogy series, he told me that one of the greatest challenges he has ever had to face was showing compassion to his own son, who has lived in continuous rebellion against his father. When I presented his print of the Child Angel to him he told me with a childlike enthusiastic smile on his face that he would hang it in the living room of his family home to remind him to show his son more love.
It is my belief that when you are struck by a beautiful peace of art, what you are most struck by is your spirit speaking to you to about a specific quality, like courage, or trust, that you seek inside yourself in order to move to the next level of your spiritual growth.
Reach Steve at (707) 888-3269