My Mind | Blog post by Seattle Mural Artist Ryan "Henry" Ward

My imagination is full of color, movement, and images. When I close my eyes I see images morphing into other images, much like a lava lamp made up of complex worlds. As the images are moving, landscapes open up and creatures start moving around. I have strong sparks of interest in certain aspects of this world; like a face expression, or texture or a color combination. Even the simple way a line moves will grab my focus. As the images flow and my interest is captured, I am aware of a demanding voice in the back of my mind. The images themselves seem to speak this voice. I am told to create these small aspects that hold instinctual importance.

This has been my mind since childhood, it’s how I always remember being, and I’ve always been answering the demand. I believe my use of childlike imagery reflect that I’ve always been in this flow and these things I see have never broken momentum. The harsh outer world of reality has penetrated parts of my childlike imagination and that shows up in parts of the work as well. To be my age and to see what I can still see feels really special to me.

When I open my eyes, I’m back in the world we all share here, and my labor begins. I grasp for elements of my inner vision and work towards sharing what was so perfect and obvious with my eyes closed. Like a dream, the ideas fade when my eyes are open and they come in and out of awareness. This is why I paint everyday: even if I don’t remember the ideas when I start painting, they flow back to me as the brush starts moving on the surface.

I want the world to experience on some level this secret part of my mind, these thoughts bubbling to the surface as I capture just a small fraction of them. I pick up my paintbrush and enter the dance all artists are part of: the sharing of the special part we’ve all been mysteriously granted.

Ryan Henry Ward
10-26-2020