Cast of Colors
Bobbi Stout

Artist Statement: The difficulties and complexities of modern life can sometimes be overwhelming.  When this happens, I like to step back from my usual seriousness and allow my imagination to take me to a place filled with bright colors and playful images.  The collection of work on exhibit today shows the results of some of my trips into creative escapism. Populated by clear, bright colors and whimsical characters, this group of images is intended to be humorous, joyful and poignant.  While a few of the paintings were consciously planned, most of them were more spontaneous, coming fresh from my thoughts to the canvas.  For me, the use of colorful and cartoon-like images creates a simple, two-dimensional world where feelings are clear and transparent, and everything is readily visible.
 
Though I have always been interested in art and played around with it as a child, I was seldom encouraged to do it. As a child and youth, I was the victim of severe, continual abuse. When I was hospitalized for these issues, several healthcare practitioners realized that I was unable to vocalize my traumas and my reactions to them.  They noticed that I like to draw and paint, and they started encouraging me to use art as an outlet for my feelings to tell my stories. Art became my lifeline.
 
As I continued to recover, I realized the significance of art in my life. I took community courses and sought out other artists.  I worked to develop my own style, to learn new techniques, and to show my art.   Originally, I used art to express the painful circumstances of my past, but now I find that my art has become more playful and more about enjoying life. In the past several years, I have been able to do whimsical, fun things, which I believe is a sign of healing. I believe in the healing power of art and have seen firsthand that art can bring about strong positive change in both individuals and the larger world.

I try to create art that makes people think and feel, that challenges cultural assumptions about art and society. Art is deeply meditative for me. Focusing on the small, individual parts of the work grounds me and becomes an exercise in mindfulness.  The art that I do seems to come from some part of my unconscious mind, as I seldom plan a piece and rarely know what the end results will be.  Frequently, when I work on a project, I lose all sense of time passing and it is not until I complete it that I can get an idea of what was going on inside my head while I was doing it. I also learn a lot about my work from what other people see in it.  My emotions flow through my work.  It continues to give me strength to live in a troubled world and peace to enjoy life.  I frequently feel that a day without art is a wasted day. 

Art soothes me and helps me through life’s challenges. It has become my highest form of hope. I thoroughly enjoyed creating the images in this show and hope you will have as much fun looking at them as I did in making them.


Artist Bio:  Bobbi Stout is an artist whose unique style features flat and multi-dimensional images using a wide variety of mediums including paint, markers, pen and ink, pastels, and found objects.  She grew up in small towns in Illinois and Indiana and the Chicago area but considers the Bluegrass her home after living here for 46 years.

Bobbi is primarily a self-taught artist, though she has received non-degree training and mentoring, including in illustration and printmaking. She has been showing her art in Kentucky and beyond since 1990. Human rights, child welfare, and peace and justice concerns are key areas of focus in her life and her art, but she also sees art as the perfect vessel for playfulness, humor, and hope, as demonstrated in her current exhibit.

Before putting her focus on art full-time, she received a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Ball State University.  Among her employment and volunteer activities she has worked as a psychologist, log-cabin builder, stage manager, grocery stocker, human rights activist, prison activist, and HIV-AIDS educator.  Additionally, she has spent many years as an advocate for social justice, including being a founding member of some of the first LGBTQ+ organizations in Kentucky.
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Bobbi currently lives in Lexington with her wife, Sydney Smith, two cats, and a particularly playful puppy.