Whisper artists reveal the magnetic pull of the hidden and the unknown.
"A whisper can be beautiful or evil. It exists only in the air, plumped with oxygen, and then disappears."
Ruth Ross
Leonard Zeoli
"The studio is often noisy with saws, sanders, and mallets. My creative work is making, an outward movement that transforms material. Behind the conversion is a much quieter process fostered by my consciousness, feelings of awareness, the whisper of my soul."
Leonard Zeoli
Denise Yaghmourian
"I was attracted to the theme of Whisper because most of my artwork is meant to entice the viewer to step closer, to slow down, and look deeper at things. Upon first glance, the objects, materials, and ideas behind the work are not totally revealed. They are hinted. They are whispered.
For me, Whisper means to very gently, plant a seed, a feeling, a thought or idea. The investigation and motivation to explore that “whisper” is left in the hands and heart of the viewer."
Denise Yaghmourian
Irene Rubin Gogan
"For three decades I’ve explored all that is hidden: from love, hope and passion to fear, oppression and rage—all the secrets that we hold tight within us.
On Breaking Point:
Innocent and naked in the night we are burdened by the whispers and shouts that demand our attention. All those voices pulling us away from the peaceful silence of sleep."
Irene Rubin Gogan
Nancy Watterson Scharf
"The soft murmur of flowing water, the disturbance of air from a bird’s wing, the vibrations of flowers in bloom, ancestors from long ago: These are the whispers that I hear, and I am compelled to explore their subliminal voices in my work."
Nancy Watterson Scharf
Earl Grenville Killeen
"Whisper! A friend and I are sitting by a pond — peaceful, relaxed. We see drifting clouds reflected on the pond’s surface and, beneath, we observe the languidly floating fish. All is in quiet motion — like a whisper. Suddenly, the tranquility of the water’s surface is disturbed by the splash of hook, line, and sinker. The one who is fishing evidently senses our annoyance and mutters under his breath. I turn to my companion and whisper sounds of irritation in his ear. In an instant, in my disturbance of the air, I am as corrupt as the fishing man. So, too, is my friend, in listening. I reflect now that whispering is best done by things without lips."
Earl Grenville Killeen
Leona Gamble
"It is harder to kill a whisper than even a shouted calumny." - by Mary Stewart
Shared by Whisper artist, Leona Gamble
Debra Disman
"A “whisper” implies something that needs to be said…expressed, in a quiet or private manner, because of a potentially dangerous reaction or response to what is whispered. Whisper implies intimacy, privacy, but also communication, (maybe even manipulation) and a need to share, otherwise why would anything be whispered at all?"
Debra Disman
Karen Appleton
Whisper
The quiet after a storm
When the birds come out to play
My grandfather tapping to the music in his head
My grandmother rolling out pie crust
The love for my wife
when the lights are low and she reaches for my hand as we drift off to sleep
My babies sleeping
The spider does not shout
She weaves her web, row after row, line after line a thin strong thread gently swaying in the
breeze
The chatter in my head moving me forward, mark after mark
My aging body
walks slowly, each step cautious
I am grateful for my time
To sit and listen
To life’s many whispers
Karen Appleton
Jeanette Hammerstein
"In this piece in particular, “When our sounds come back around” I began painting about my childhood growing up on a 20-acre old quarry site in Indiana. As kids we would yell out over the jutted spaces and just listen to our voices coming back around. This made us happy and never got old. There is something always to be learned when the world gives us feedback as a larger metaphor beyond the childhood echo. But we have to be willing to listen, no matter how quiet the voice may be."
Jeanette Hammerstein
Rebekah Cammack
"A whisper is quiet; private. Very little is said in a whisper, and all that has gone unspoken holds intrigue. Mystery. My work includes substantial mystery and so this theme called to me. In my painting "The Sensitives II" a lot is implied and has been left unsaid."
Rebekah Cammack
Beth Kerschen
"After years of working non-stop, I burned out and I realized there was a hidden, unheard part of me that wanted a voice. In an attempt to keep up with societal expectations of success and earning money, I was abandoning and pinching off this part of me that was coming from my heart and soul. This is a critical part of me that was kept secret and was only at the volume of a whisper. I have slowly realized this whisper needs to be heard, it should be my guiding light…it is my true self wanting to be expressed and not ignored any longer. I can only hope that the more I listen to this whisper, it will become louder and clearer as I finally stop to listen and follow its requests."
Beth Kerschen
Steve Mauldin
"I was drawn to the theme “Whisper” because my entire creative life has been built around expressing “whispers” that have been floating in the back of my mind my entire life…both as a child and as an adult. They are always there, seemingly begging to be expressed. They are there to be seen in all my paintings."
Steve Mauldin
Ellen Zimmerman
“Whisper reminded me of how I felt making Smoky Mountain Sunrise. I was entirely in the quiet, magical moment of light emerging from darkness. Gradually, gentle mountain curves appeared, like infinite layers of time. Faint clouds floated above. Mist rose. Even bitter cold could not penetrate my joy. All was silence and majesty."
Ellen Zimmerman
Claire Brown
"There are many artists who whisper to me. Their works evoke a sense of a secret, beauty, joy, and quiet.
Agnes Martin is one; her simple lines and delicate washes murmur of a depth I want to explore.
Vija Celmins’ ocean, desert, and starry skies capture the beauty of the natural world. They have a mysterious calm and speak of the unknown.
My hope is that my work is a collection of my interior whisperings, thoughts and quiet musings as I go about my day."
Claire Brown
Ron Conrad
“A breeze blows gently through the mind like the whispering of bird wings and opens new ways of thinking."
Ron Conrad
Claudia Hollister
"I was attracted to the theme as I felt I had several strong cyanotype prints that would be a fit. When I think of the word Whisper, it conjures up soft, quiet, silence, art that draws you without needing an explanation."
Claudia Hollister
Dean Moniz
"I once had an art history teacher who was involved in transcendental meditation, and he brought a painter to class to share his work. I bought one of his paintings, which I no longer have. Maybe that’s where this painting came from. A very brief moment. Or I was covering up the original painting. That happens too. Whatever gets us there. That’s my mantra."
Dean Moniz
Susan Farnham
"Sometimes the part of a painting I like best is subtle and undefined. It suggests a hint of something not quite said, it is shy and unresolved, open to interpretation, not like its bold cousin, in your face, loud, and demanding attention."
Susan Farnham
To Receive a Whisper
A whisper is almost silent,
is breath made into characters.
To hear, one must slow and
open to the quiet.
The ground must settle.
the leaves fallen.
the wind now measured,
competing sounds now
distant. now echoes.
slowing to an almost stillness,
perhaps matching the pace of your heart's beat.
Now emptied, the space
now almost still
now almost white
glowing in its void.
Now ready to receive a whisper.
Valerie Kim
Below is a link to the first blogpost about the Whisper! Exhibition:
Below is the link to shop original art from the Whisper! Exhibition: