Dahlov Ipcar in Her Own Words: An Artist's Reflections
“I have lived most of my life surrounded by the serenity and natural beauty of Maine, yet my art is done entirely from imagination. I strive to create my own unique vision of the world. I am intrigued and inspired by the endless variety of patterns and forms in nature; they arouse in me the desire to create forms and patterns of my own.
While many people view the world through the eyes of past artists, I feel that it is up to the artists of the present to reveal new ways of seeing the world and to create new worlds never before seen. Increasingly, I have come to feel that the reality created by the artist is more important than actual reality. The real world may come to seem oppressively dull and barren unless transformed and revitalized by imagination.
I rarely plan a painting or make fully developed sketches before starting. At most I start with a quick 5" X 8" sketch. I do most of my drawing directly on the canvas with a brush and let the work develop spontaneously. I have deliberately tried to train my visual memory so that I am able to see the animals I wish to paint in my mind's eye, whether antelopes leaping or zebras galloping. This gives me an unusual freedom.
But this only partially explains my approach to art–if it explains it at all. Nobel Prize winner Isaac Bashevis Singer once said that no matter how willing artists are to explain their motivations and their methods, it always appears that they are hiding their secrets, for they are doing something that seems impossible to the disciplined mind; they are playing a game without rules.
All my life I have enjoyed playing this game. To me each painting I start is a challenge and a mystery to be solved. Some artists say they want to simplify their work as much as possible: they want "to avoid problems." I feel that problems are what make it all interesting. Sometimes it is an exhausting struggle, but it is always exciting. As I work on a painting it is like a continually changing kaleidoscope of composition, color, meanings. If, in the end, I succeed in realizing my original vision, even in some small measure, that is the supreme reward.”
Dahlov Ipcar
1917 - 2017
