If you’ve been in the Inspired Health Clinic recently, you likely have noticed a gorgeous new addition on our wall – a stunning oil painting by Lindsey Luna Tucker. (And yes, it’s available for purchase!) Lindsay is a local artist known for her abstract landscapes inspired by the natural world. Lindsey was awarded artist residencies with Lawayaka Current and Saint Gertrude’s Monastery. She is represented by Camellia Art Gallery in Hilton Head, SC. Her work lives in private collections throughout North America, Europe, and Australia.
Q: Hi Lindsey! The entire Inspired Health team is enamored with your painting currently on display in the clinic. We are honored to be in its presence every day! Could you tell us a little bit about your process with this piece?
LT: As with all of my paintings, this piece is less about the place I used as inspiration and more about the experience of the painting itself. That said, this painting was inspired by the pause that comes after hiking to the peak of a mountain. As you reach the peak and for those first few moments you catch your breath and look out to see how far you’ve come. You admire the contours of the land from a new and earned perspective.
It is in these moments when I become acutely aware of the vastness of the earth and my smallness in comparison. And yet, I belong to this place, to this earth – somewhere between the trees and land and sky.
Q: We’d love to learn more about your evolution as an artist through the years. Were you artistic from a young age?
LT: Like most children, I enjoyed drawing from a young age. It was the drawing and painting classes I took my sophomore year of high school were my first taste of what art was really about. A few years later, the summer before my Senior year, my family moved across the country. It was devastating for me at the time, but during that year I took my first oil painting class. Oil painting quickly became something I wanted to do all the time. And because I didn’t know many people at my new school, I spent many afternoons learning about and practicing painting with oils. I knew then that I wanted to go to art school and keep oil painting for as long as possible.
Q: What or who have been your greatest inspirations or influences when it comes to your art?
LT: Two artists have profoundly influenced my creative process and inspire me and the way I approach my work – Edvard Munch and Mark Rothko. Munch is most known for his painting “The Scream” but I love his landscapes. He had an urgency in the way he paints as if he couldn’t get what he had to say out fast enough. Rothko is a very different artist and I appreciate him for very different reasons. I love Rothko’s paintings and his philosophies on art. I admire the way he was true to himself in his process and in the exhibition of his paintings – he knew what he liked and what he wanted. He wasn’t afraid to stand up for himself, his art, and what he believed in.
“My paintings are an invitation to explore our tendency as humans to want to name and be certain of anything and everything. We want to know we are right. We want to know we are going to be okay. We want resolutions, absolutes, security. Within all the uncertainty cast upon us is the very nature and beauty of life itself.”
Q: This excerpt from your artist statement beautifully encapsulates the theme of embracing uncertainty in your work. Your abstract landscapes invite us to revel in the experience of the art, just as it is, which is a lovely reminder and practice to carry over in our daily lives – to be open to the natural unfolding of things without judgement or a need to control. Thank you for that.
Do you ever find yourself having those very human moments where you might try to control the outcome of a painting you’re working on, or maybe where you can’t get into flow? How do you navigate those moments?
LT: Absolutely! I find in the process of creation that if I’m overly concerned with how things are progressing, most often the painting doesn’t turn out as well. It is a daily practice of letting things unfold in their own time. Paintings often get “lost” in the middle. That is normal and part of the process. A lot of painting is finding out what a piece isn’t so I can find out what it is. And sometimes, I have to remind myself that things just take the time they take.
Q: Do you have a daily routine with painting or do you work when the inspiration hits? What does a typical day look like for you?
LT: I love having a routine. Sure, spontaneous inspiration happens, I think that most inspiration comes by showing up and doing the work. It’s about coming to the studio day in and day out, even when I don’t necessarily feel like it. My days in the studio begin around 6am. I begin by mixing colors and finding a palette for whatever painting I’m working on that day. Because oil paints take at least a week to dry between layers, I always have multiple paintings in the works at one time so I have things to work on while others are drying. In a day I will usually paint for 4-6 hours. Once I’m done painting for the day, I do the rest of the things required in my business – emails, applications, ordering, marketing, shipping, etc.
Q: What is a book you’ve read recently that you can’t stop thinking about?
LT: I’ve been reading Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Wherever You Go There You Are for a few months. Not for a lack of reading, but because I’ll re-read chapters over and over. He has a chapter on patience that is on my mind a lot and is one of the few I return to often.
Q: Let’s share some Central Oregon love! Can you share one or two of your favorite local businesses?
LT: My massage therapist, Marissa Bauer, is hands down one of my favorite people to visit every month. My right hand, arm, and shoulder are in need of attention quite often because of all the painting and repetitive motion. I started seeing Marissa last year and it has made a huge difference in my recovery. I cannot recommend her enough. If you’re in the market for a massage, she’s over at Dynamic Sports Rehab.
Thank you Lindsey!
To learn more about Lindsey Tucker and view her available paintings, visit her website. Follow her on Instagram at @lindseylunatucker, and be sure to experience her painting in person in the Inspired Health Clinic if you’re local here in Bend!
