Judy Goddard, Artist of the Month
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Throughout December, Gallery on Main will feature an exhibition of paintings by New Jersey-based artist Judy Goddard.
Join us for the opening reception on Saturday, December 7, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.
Says Judy Goddard, “I have learned to pull joy out of life and onto the canvas. The magic that I invoke transfers from my thoughts and inner conversations onto every piece of art I create.” Dedicated to her ideal, she is a serious painter who devotes herself to a full-time schedule.
Judy knows that the world is full of magic, “from the smallest caterpillar to the shooting stars, everything holds a little bit of magic just waiting for the world to find it!” Coming from the trauma of a dysfunctional childhood and marrying young, she has a resilience that has served her all of her days.
The joy that inhabits Judy’s soul is contagious and comes through in her paintings. Sharing that joy with others is her life and breath. Working as an oil painter, she has taken the lessons in “Old Master” techniques and uses them to revel in rich hues and a depth of expression that have floated in her head all her life.
Judy’s studio and “happy place” is a cabin in the woods, situated on the bank of the Upper Toms River Creek. The beauty of the location is a balm to her spirit and there’s no other place she would rather be. Her ultimate goal, she says, “is to travel the world, painting not necessarily what I see but what the effect of joy can have on a place. In this way, maybe I can make a positive change in the world.” In the meantime, she spends her days in her studio creating many paintings. She’s also currently working on illustrations for her next picture book, "When You Live Down The Shore." Each season presents new opportunities to create.
Into each painting, Judy says she “slides a little secret, a little reason to make people smile.” She loves playing with concepts that she can add into her paintings. “It’s a kind of game; what can they glimpse in my art? What little hidden message can I guide them towards?”
Judy grew up in Fair Haven, New Jersey, a small, tight-knit community. As far back as she can remember, she has had a pencil in her hand and was recognized as an artist from a very early age. Though gifted as an artist, she was never encouraged to think about art as a profession. For the first 20 years of her adult life she focused on music, becoming a professional folk singer. She recorded an album of original songs in Nashville in 2002. She eventually turned one of her songs, “My Navesink,” into a picture book about the river that runs through Fair Haven. At the age of 60, Judy was finally given the tools she longed for and needed to spur her on into full-time fine art painting, in the form of professional classes for professional artists and she has not looked back.