13 Walls Exhibition Space with Ivy Higganbotham – Coming Full Circle

Ivy Higganbotham-

After many years of never picking up a paintbrush other than to paint my walls, I started painting during COVID. To cope with what was going on in the world and personal loss, I began watching painting videos and said, “I can do that”. With encouragement from Denise Stebbins at Living Glass Art Gallery, I jumped back into
painting. I evolved from pretty watercolors to intuitive abstract, and I’m currently exploring mixed media collage.

My goal in 2024 was to get unstuck. To break out! It was the year I would retire from work, and also the year I had my first art exhibition at Living Glass Art Gallery. I opened myself up to judgment of my art abilities, but I was ok with that because I was breaking out of a mold. I had succeeded in doing that, and it motivated me even more to keep breaking down other barriers that keep us stuck. My art is an expression of me and what is happening in my life at the moment. Art brings me joy and peace. My mind takes a relaxing vacation from reality, and hours pass by when I’m surrounded by my art supplies. This collage collection, which I call “Coming Full Circle,” is made from papers I’ve made
over the last two years and some small paintings that I felt were rejects until I meshed the two together. Exciting things happened! A mini collection was born. When looking at the whole collection, I realized that circles are a recurring theme in many of my pieces. Circles symbolize unity, harmony, or peace, wholeness, completion, and eternity. Creating evokes these feelings in me. Art = happiness.