Lately, I’ve been rediscovered the joy of finger painting.  Sometimes a brush just won’t do the trick and your digits are the best way to get it done.  And for me, it makes me feel even more connected to what I’m creating– I’m physically in the work, no middle man.  It got me thinking about how I made art as a child and I hate to say that what I really remember is feeling frustration when what I created didn’t turn out as perfect as the vision in my head.  But what I’ve come to understand and what so many artists do, is that it is in the naiveté and imperfection that the heart of an artist is revealed.  In her folk style paintings, Los Angeles based artist Esther Pearl Watson  tells her own unique stories through childlike eyes.

Growing up in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, Watson’s father was a bit of an eccentric, an inventor who would spend hours working on what he believed to be the future of transportation– hover vehicles.  Her folkloric inspired paintings are a sweetly odd mix of nostalgia, present reality, and idealistic dreams of a futuristic world.

To see more of the work of Esther Pearl Watson, please visit her website.  Her work can be seen in the current exhibition, Sky, at the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, CA through May 25th.

All images via the artist’s website.