Local Artist Profile: Gillian Haven
Hailing from the Amherst area, local artist Gillian Haven spent 20 years of her career living across the country. Now based in Pelham, Haven sat down with Amherst Media to discuss her creative process.
Local artist Gillian Haven says that birds don’t think about singing, they just do it. For her, the instinct to paint is just as innate.
Haven began painting here in the Amherst area when she was only a child, and has been pursuing it ever since. The place where she grew up has become a big part of who she is, though her career has brought her to far-reaching places across the country. Haven’s work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions here in New England, DC and California.
“I lived elsewhere for 20 years,” says Haven. Meaning Virginia, California, and Puerto Rico. “I didn’t realize how important [my hometown] was to me until I wasn’t there anymore… I really missed New England.”
Now based in Pelham, Amherst Media sat down with Haven in a collaboration with the Amherst Public Art Commission to talk about her creative process. She explained that in her work, she is often drawn to images of “openings” in something, like trees, water, sky holes; places where light comes through. Some paintings feature lit paths that slither between trees, or lone bodies of water– imagery that welcomes the viewer inside. “Something that’s a pathway out, or that leads me beyond,” says Haven.
Haven describes the challenge of painting as the act of starting from scratch over and over again, having to put one foot in front of the other until you are on your way. Though once you are over the initial hump of starting, Haven describes painting as a way to connect with the current moment. “You become a part of it instead of subject to it, overwhelmed by it. You get to contribute to it & it becomes joyful,” she says.
The challenge, as always, is how long she can stay in the present. Just like the birds outside her window.
