Fonda Clark Haight is a mixed media, intuitive artist living in the mountains of NC. Looking past the obvious, close observation and engagement of my truth is the process. The challenge is to see beyond the distractions of the conspicuous to engage with my feelings deep in the subconscious. My goal is to inspire those who see my work to look more carefully at the world around them, to discover beauty in unusual places, and to question the truth in themselves.
I have no formal training in the arts. I think I took one art class in college. When I was 34, my twin sister gave me a set of watercolors for Christmas. I was horrible with watercolors lol. But there was something about the way it made me feel, something about creating that I knew was for me. It was a clarity of expression that I had not really known until then. I haven’t looked back once since that day.
Tell us about your journey to claim the title artist?
What is it about making art that stirs your soul? I am all about discovering beauty in unusual places. For me, those places are usually about the grief and anger and so called “dark” emotions that we all have and for the most part are afraid to explore. There is such beauty in just “being”. In having your own emotions and not prettying them up. There is beauty in a child’s scribble for me because they are free to just do what they want. In the physical world there is beauty for me in the well loved things, and also the trash. That frayed piece of cardboard with all the layers showing thru, that piece of tape on the telephone pole that has picked up the layers of wood and paint underneath, those rusted pieces of metal bits in an old shed.
There is a guy that lives down the street from me…and he has had an upholstered chair outside under a maple tree for a year. When I drive by…sometimes there is nothing in the chair. The other day there was a stuffed cat. (at least I hope it was a stuffed cat because it never moved). I don’t know this guy…but I make up stories about that dang chair. What’s it for? Is it performance art? No one ever sits in it but day after day it’s out there rotting and I assume gathering bugs. It wasn’t as interesting in the first few weeks as it is now. It’s a container for my imagination, sitting out there rotting. I consider it to be some sort of metaphor now. It’s a perfect example of the Down Deep for me. I’m not sure what that says about me though.
What do you wish you had known at the beginning of your creative journey?
I wish I had realized that I could just allow it all. The scribbles, the ugly, the odd, the weird. Every single mark tells a story for me these days.
What sort of creative walls do you hit?
I hit walls like everyone. Usually my wall is about making myself sit down to work rather than being blocked. I think because I don’t judge the end result the walls aren’t there as often. Having said that I tend to create furiously for long periods of time and then have to just rest lol. I’m what I call a serial creator. One thing after another shows up when I am in the flow. So I have learned to live with those cycles and not judge them. I DO create every single day no matter what. I think it’s important to keep my hand moving.
To learn more about Fonda watch our Talking with Artists interview HERE
