Stephanie Peters

Recently the universe gave me a little push of inspiration to create a new Natural Disaster Painting - and it wasn’t just the freezing temperatures that have been pushing me into hibernation 🥶

In February, the central part of North America experienced an arctic blast that plunged temperatures into below freezing for days. From frozen cacti in Texas to blizzard conditions north into Manitoba, it was cold... so so cold. According to weather.gov, “Over 3,000 daily cold records were set across the USA, with around 80 all-time record cold readings.” Here in Iowa, I experienced the coldest temperatures I’ve ever felt (-27F!) and blustery winds became a new normal.

Fortunately the weather changes quickly and although it’s still very much winter in Iowa, the temperatures are above freezing again and there’s hope for spring. But the Arctic blast was for sure a natural disaster - though minuscule compared to other disasters. But I feel it needed to be included in the natural disaster series. For all the hearts that were bruised and/or lost, this painting is for them.

I haven’t created a natural disaster painting in a while, not that there is a loss for inspiration for a new one with everything that is going on in the world - I’ve just been focused on birds and urban wildlife. Subjects that bring me joy and peace. But a week or so ago, a class asked me what my process was for making a natural disaster painting. A question I could easily run off an answer to a couple of years ago, but at that moment, I didn’t have the words, I just had the urge. The urge to paint this particular disaster. A feeling I haven’t felt in a long time. 
I’ve felt inspired to paint wildfire art, but that art has been more realism than abstract in the last couple of years. It has felt like the ability to make something abstract died in me – the candle burned out. I just didn’t have the steam. When I tried, it was mostly failures with a few cubic zirconias mixed in – paintings that at first glance look like diamonds, but at closer inspection, just imitations.

Though when I painted this, a flame was reborn. A deep in the heart knowing and awareness just reappeared like an old friend.

Abstract art is not just throwing paint on a canvas; abstract art like all well thought out art, requires a nod to the elements of art, design, and so on. But great abstract art – at least for me – has always been letting the paint flow from within – letting the subconscious tackle the rules and the conscious focus on the spirit from within. A familiar home that I’m glad to have returned to.
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Who knew freezing temperatures would lead me back to abstraction, especially since I’m more desert cottontail than arctic hare…

...have found their way into my studio.  After spending three months in Europe this past summer, where I probably saw more rain that I have seen over the last five years living in Arizona, I've been hooked on storms.
From tornadoes to thunder storms to clouds dancing over mountains - the colors, mood and music of thunder has started to find its way into some new paintings and drawing.  Working with new mediums like graphite powder, and a more limited tinted palette, I'm very excited about the abstract direction these are going. I have a feeling these stormy paintings are the beginning of a few new collections on thunder storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes.

After reading dozens of books on volcanology, following amazing photographers like Brad Lewis, and watching YouTube videos of exploding volcanoes every night... the series on volcanoes began. 
This series explores the mystery of volcanoes and how these amazing geophysical disasters are essentially our planet's heart beating.

​But I also wanted to capture the explosive feeling Volcanoes have, and still keep the essential beauty of the cataclysmic event. Volcanoes, although destructive, are one of the most beautiful spontaneous natural occurring events on our planet. 

Although the textures, colors, and even the action of the brush strokes made the volcanoes feel "alive," my paintings still weren't "active" enough. I wanted the active volcanoes to pour out lava, and feel like you are there - or at least feel like you are in front of them in some kind of reality where volcanoes are exploding in highly saturated colors. 

​So while discussing my dilemma with a friend of mine, and in the same conversation sharing with her my 3D DNA painting, she inspired me with the idea that what if the volcanoes were 3D? By using science (3D Glasses), I can make my paintings 'explode' -- at least when viewed through the glasses. Unfortunately, there is no way to share this effect on the screen, unless of course someone is reading this with 3D glasses on... 
But that's how Earth's Breathing Lung and Exploding Volcano came to become 3D - adding a little science into more than just the inspiration. And how I got the paintings to finally become 'awake.' At least in a real life experience.

I'm still working on some volcano paintings in my studio, mostly the landscapes of the extinct and dormant volcanoes. Perhaps though, I always will be working on a volcano painting - continuously inspired by the muse of Pele, or Vulcan -  so this series, like most of my subjects, is still in the works. Though, current and future volcano paintings can be found here. 

A couple of weeks ago, I opened my email to this:

I loved their choice of using a limited palette that reminded them of snowstorms, creating a "brrr" feeling. 

 It was such a wonderful surprise (and an honor) to see another class inspired by my work.
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Perhaps, though, the bigger gift here for me, is to see the passion I put into my work finding it's way back to me through the work of others. These future artists shared with me something truly amazing - they reminded me of why I do this. I create to inspire... and somehow through the world of the internet, I got to help inspire beautiful paintings of snowstorms, more than 5000 miles away. 
I hope it is the start of something big for them. I hope they continue painting, continue expressing themselves, continue to be creative, throughout their lives.

Oh they didn't just paint snowstorms, they painted tornadoes too, inspired by an artist named Shawn Selders.

Awhile back, Hannah Crawford-Moody, an elementary school teacher in the UK, emailed me about a class project she did with her students. Their project was about Natural Disasters and they used my paintings on natural disasters as inspiration. The students used a mixture of paint and glue with string, sponges, spatulas, and their fingers to create the various textures and effects they wanted, in their paintings. The teacher was kind of enough to share with me a few of their amazing works of art hung up on the wall...

It was incredible to receive this kind of response to my work, and is the reason artists do what they do -- to inspire creativity and feeling in others for generations to come. At least -- that's why I am here painting. 

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