My Journey in Art – From Beginning to Current
I’ve been creative for as long as I can remember. Around age eight, my mother paid for art lessons with a neighbor who was a professional artist. She had me draw countless Jell-O boxes, cylinders, and bowls of apples—an exercise that, while monotonous at the time, became a formative ritual. It was then that I knew I wanted to be an artist. I grew up surrounded by creativity—art, music, sewing—anything that allowed me to express myself. These early experiences shaped not just how I create, but how I engage with the world. In many ways, art has always been my refuge.
I come from a folk art background and painted in that style from 1988 through 1999. During those years, I sold my work at art shows and local shops throughout Minnesota. I also co-owned a consignment gift and home décor boutique in Hastings, Minnesota. What began with art and craft shows soon evolved into a brick-and-mortar store, and I expanded my role to teaching community education classes and seminars for other artists and artisans pursuing creative careers. These experiences reinforced something I still believe today: art and creativity aren’t just individual pursuits—they’re vital to community and culture.
In 1999, I decided to take a break from my artistic ventures to focus on my personal life, which was going through significant change at the time.
In 2004, I returned to painting—feeling more grounded and ready to pursue art from a new angle. I didn’t want to return to what was familiar. I had long been drawn to abstract art, so I began a fresh chapter by studying the form from an academic lens—reading about color theory, artistic movement, and line. I spent time sketching, writing, and visualizing the kind of artist I wanted to become. I approached this return not only as a painter but also as a businesswoman, with a clear plan in mind. Every time I looked at abstract work, I felt a sense of excitement—like I was inside the painting, looking out. That feeling still excites me today.
In 2005, I began developing my portfolio, working primarily in acrylic paint and exploring mixed media and digital art. My early abstract works combined color, line, and form in a search for rhythm and movement. In fall of 2006, I curated my first solo show at a local Dunn Bros. Coffee, featuring paintings, drawings, digital work, and photography.
By 2007, I was exploring digital art more deeply. It allowed me to move beyond the paintbrush—to experiment with composition through the lens of a camera or the bed of a digital scanner. I found it both challenging and liberating to work in a medium where I could undo and redo freely. While digital art eventually took a back seat to painting, it was an important tool in expanding my creative process and deepening my understanding of form and color.
Between 2008 and 2009, I shifted focus toward the “texture” of color itself. I began developing techniques to layer color using only palette and painting knives, creating work that visually suggested texture without the need for physical touch. This process led to my first organized body of work, SqUaRe (U R Square)—a series of line-free paintings on 8" x 8" paper. That, in turn, evolved into GreY MaTTer, a series exploring both the concept and color of grey, using exposed photo paper, canvas, and board. GreY MaTTer remains ongoing, as I continue to explore and reinterpret its meaning.
Eventually, I brought line back into my work, using the movement of music as inspiration—particularly in my Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left series. During this time, I became captivated by American abstract art of the mid-1940s to mid-1950s—a period that, to me, signified artistic rebellion and deep societal shifts. I was drawn to the complexity and subtle tension in the work of that era—abstract, but not quite expressionist. That fascination became the foundation for a body of work titled Another Generation 1945–1955, which blended my impressions of that time period with present-day sensibilities.
From 2010 to 2012, I painted prolifically, creating the 2010 – It’s a New Decade series, inspired by the feeling of entering a new century amid a changing world. This period deepened my love for abstraction and further refined my focus on color, line, and movement as tools for visual storytelling.
As I evolved, language began to play a more central role in my work. Words, phrases, and overheard conversations sparked an energy that translated into color and form. A word from a billboard, a lyric, or a line from a book could prompt a sketch or an entire painting. I began to build visual stories from words—allowing language to shape structure, rhythm, and ultimately, the finished piece.
By 2018, I noticed a shift again in my approach. My work became more architectural in nature. I began constructing shapes and forms on the canvas with greater intentionality—almost as if designing a space to live in. My color palette grew more restrained, allowing form and spatial relationships to take center stage. I now use skewed and off-center lines to disrupt and reconnect the visual flow, creating pauses—voids within the composition—places for the eye (and the mind) to rest before the movement begins again.
My current work is rooted in hard-edge, non-objective painting and draws heavily from 20th-century art movements such as Constructivism, Suprematism, Concretism, Bauhaus, and De Stijl. I’m particularly drawn to the history behind these movements and the artists who worked during times of political and social upheaval. While my finished pieces are not overtly political, the context that shapes them is.
For me, being an artist isn’t just a passion—it’s a way of life. My work may be decorative in form, but it holds deeper meaning, often sparking conversations about art and life—two things I find inseparable. I believe that art reflects who we are and the world we live in. It documents, challenges, and preserves moments in time. Through my work, I aim to contribute to that ongoing conversation, honoring those who created during times when artistic expression was threatened or suppressed. Art, music, theater, and culture are not luxuries—they are essential. Our creations are our collective stories.
I am as committed as ever to this life in art. I feel incredibly fortunate to do what I do, knowing how many never get the chance. That gratitude continues to drive me forward—creating, exploring, and always evolving.
Conquest, Journey, and Self-Discovery
For me, it’s never been about the conquest—it's always been about the journey. The path I travel to reach each destination, known or unknown, is where the real transformation happens.
I believe that true self-discovery comes from within. It’s a process of honest, raw exploration—of recognizing your limitations, embracing them, and growing through them. To breathe in every moment and live every breath with awareness is the most rewarding journey of all.
~ T. Young
