Addendum:  If you like Deb Haugen’s work, prints will be available via One King’s Lane beginning August 5, 2011.

Organic is a hot word these days. It’s everywhere in the grocery store, pharmacy, heck just googling “organic” yields 430,000,000 hits.  When most of us hear the word today, we think of pesticide-free, naturally grown food.  Just as the organic food we eat is allowed to develop naturally, so is the Organic Art of Deb Haugen.

Deb sees the world through the fundamentals of nature, those microcosmic worlds that are happening unseen right before our very eyes.  She is using her paints intuitively, creating not a visual representation of the reality of the appearance of nature, but rather the emotionality of our response to the natural world around us.

The artist’s response to those “atmospheric memories” is sketched out on paper and canvas in loose, biomorphic shapes that float within a watery universe.  These are the painterly representations of the feeling of dipping your toes into a frigid, running river, the scent of the woods after a summer rainfall, the movement of a snail along the forest floor.

As one who does a lot of looking down while hiking ( serious klutz, party of one ), many of Deb’s paintings remind me of the intricate story that is being told beneath our feet.  There is so much to witness, if we would only take the time to stop and notice, truly experience the miracles taking place all around.

Don’t just make due with eating organic food.  See with organic eyes.  Really get to know the natural world around you, even in your own backyard.  There are stories it would like to tell you and wonders to show you, if you would only stop, look and listen.

If you’d like to see more of Deb Haugen’s work, check out her website, The Organic Artist.

What are your favorite “atmospheric memories”?