BRIGITTE MCREYNOLDS

“NON-SAINTS CAN BE WONDERFUL TOO”

This is very much about my personal evolution. I had a very saintly mother. Really.

There are people in my home town that told me my mother is probably the closest they

will ever get to be with a saint.

In my family history there are 26 priests and nuns that my mother could name. One of my

mother’s cousins ordained the now pope. Needless to say being good, or beyond good

was something held up really high in the matrix of my family.

As a very young child (I am number 7 of 9), I remember every time I went to bed, I set

the intention to one day, after my death, become a saint. I would then be loved and seen

as the good person I am.

I did not know that I had started a belief system that worked me all my life.

I am known for having saintly qualities, for example being able to deal with very difficult

people, always seeing the good in EVERYTHING!!!. I always wanted to be remembered

as a beyond good person. I also, unknowingly, modeled this for my daughter. She too is

this very kind, good person who tried to live up to this high ideal. Needless to say, the

moment I realized what was covertly working me, I shared this with my daughter and

encouraged her to tear up her contract too.

Recently, when I discovered this covert belief about wanting to be a saint, a million light

bulbs were going off in my brain. I can not explain the importance of this to my life. I

feel as though a huge burden has lifted and I do not need to be extra good, beyond kind. I

don't have to be remembered as a saintly person and I can be recognized for who I am

and what I have done in my lifetime. I don’t have to wait after death to be loved. So I

singed off the contract. Broke the family pattern. No more saintly actions needed to be

loved and recognized for who I am. From now on I can be just human. And guess what:

“Non-saints can be wonderful too”.

The painting “Non-saints can be wonderful too” evolved as I was going through this huge

shift. I like the contrast of the very rough body with the beauty and detail of the face. To

me it means exactly what the title implies. I do not need to apply for sainthood. I can still

do good things but get to be just as human as I am.

Perhaps other people can relate to this as well, even if they have not signed a secret

contract to become a saint. It is more about being able to be who we are. We don't need to

be more than we are. We are enough and lovable just the way we are.

There are always some paintings that are closer to my heart than others. This one for sure

makes my heart sing. Although I think it would have been nice for me to live with it for a

while, I think it is important to let it go. It is almost as if I am telling the universe 'I mean

it' I canceled the contract! I hope it will find a home, where it can be loved.

 

Born 1959 Rosenheim, Germany

My work is a continuous investigation of abstraction and exploration of the human form.

It is a visual diary, a “paper trail” of a process, spontaneous yet deliberate, personal yet

universal.

I work in series that can start as a concept of the mind, an idea, a thought, a vision of a

finished work, or it can begin as an emotion, a feeling, a process of the heart. When I

work on a theme, like stripes for example, I explore it in oil, acrylic, and encaustic,

working figuratively and abstractly until it exhausts itself or leads to another theme. I

apply what I’ve learned from working with shapes, forms, and lines in my abstract

paintings to finding the simplicity that is needed for abstracting a figure. Similarly, my

abstract work profits from my figurative experience.

I work in layers of paint, creating luminous color, depth, and voluptuous texture. Painting

for me is a dynamic intuitive process. A drip or smear can reveal part of that process. I

like that!

Education

2007-09 Sculpture, College of Marin, Kentfield, CA

2005 -08 Il Bisonte, Florence, Italy, mono print

1991-92 Printmaking, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa California

1981-83 Schule fuer Kunst und Gestaltung (Art School), Munich, Germany

1983-85 Forum fuer analytische Kunsttherapie (Art Therapy School), Munich,

Germany

Independent Studies in Watercolor, Drawing, Oil painting

Motherhood since 1993

Selected Exhibitions

2011 Seager Grey Gellery, Mill Valley, CA

2010-11 Donna Seager Gallery, San Rafael, CA

2009-11 Art Across The Atlantic", Truman Hall, Art in Embassies, NATO, Brussels,

Belgium

2011 Jules Place, Boston, MA

2009 “The Lightness of Gravity”, Donna Seager Gallery, San Rafael, CA

2008 “ReAct,” Jules Place, Boston, MA

“New Works,” Bennett Street Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2007 “Figures,” Donna Seager Gallery, San Raphael,CA

“Color in Motion,” Jules Place, Boston, MA

“Focus on the Figure,” Bennett Street Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2006 Jules Place, Boston, MA

Bennett Street Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2005-06 “hope, joy, peace,” Steel Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2004 “Grand slam” Steel Gallery, San Francisco , CA

“Size matters” Bank of America, San Francisco, CA

2003 Inaugural Exhibition, Steel Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Sonoma, Ca ,

2002-04 iT Artworks, Lafayette, CA

2001-03 Tercera Gallery, Palo Alto, CA

2001-04 Tercera Gallery San Francisco,

2000-03 Imani Gallery, Napa, CA

2000-06 Claudia Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, CA

1990-01 Arts Guild of Sonoma, Sonoma, CA

1986-01 Exhibitions in Germany

1991-00 Jessel Miller Gallery, Napa, CA

1992-99 SFMOMA Artist’s Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1992-96 Art Trails Sonoma County

1993 Sebastopol Center of the Arts”, Sebastopol, CA

Fine Line Gallery, Lake Tahoe, NV

1992-93 Woodstock Gallery of Art, Woodstock, VT

1991 Branner Spangenberg Gallery, Palo Alto, CA

Davis Art Center, Davis CA

Awards

2006 Selected Artist for “Hearts and Heroes,” San Francisco, CA

2004 Selected Artist for “Hearts in San Francisco”

2003, 2000, 1998 Mustard Festival Competition, award winner

2000, 1998, 1997 Salute to the Arts Competition, award winner

Bibliography

California Home and Design, March/April 2009

Architectural Digest, 2005

Art News, October 2004

Art in America, August, 2004

Traditional Home, May 2004

Vogue, December 2003

John Wheatman, A Good House is Never Done, Conari Press, 2002

“Wine Country Living,” NBC, 2002

Appelation, February/March 2001

Art Week, October 2002