Julie Risien
Painting
Map Location G
I grew up exploring the Sonoran Desert and spent formative years swimming and diving in California and Micronesia. Oregon is now home and I enjoy the rainforests, alpine lakes, high desert, rivers and energetic coastline of the Pacific Northwest with my husband and teenage son. I draw inspiration from the subtle connections and interdependencies in nature observed in my past and present. My process is guided by acceptance that so much in the world is wondrous, hidden and beyond our control. Fluid art reminds me to let go and cultivate gratitude for what is and what becomes. The Emergent Flow concept, philosophy and name comes from my PhD. research which employed concepts of complexity, emergence, flow, sojourning, and becoming to understand how learning in networks can transform social systems. I work as a researcher by day. I paint for joy, love the mess of it, and am grateful I get to share it.