Painting: "Gypsy"
Artist: Caitlin Flynn

by Julian Esteban Torres, Staff Writer

During a midnight car ride conversation with Caitlin Flynn, heading to the basement art studio of her house to check out some of her recent Jazz inspired pieces, we shared stories about our backgrounds. She joked around saying she thought she was a descendent from gypsies. And ironically enough, the painting chosen for this month's cover art pick is her portrayal of Django Reinhardt: the King of Gypsy Swing.

Throughout the course of the week we spoke much on her views on art in general, and on her very own art work. This was the easiest interview I have ever done as a staff writer because I never had to ask her a question. Once on the topic of art, her passion swam upstream from her heart, made its way up to her vocal chords, until that passion reached her lips and spoke with a steady stream of meditated consciousness about the one thing she explains as her "guidance and reality:" art.

"I don't know where it comes from," says Caitlynn, "but it is something I have to do. It just makes sense. It makes sense to capture all aspects of life, and death for that matter, through pictures. To deny art is to deny some essential aspect of being human. Survival is engrained in us. It never stops. I think everyone has some art consciousness. It is something that makes you stop and look at a flower. We all have it in us."

One thing she really enjoys about art is the fact that it is always there. "No matter how bad things get, there is always something you can reflect on. There is always something positive. I like to focus on the positive because it should be celebrated." She went on to speak about how much there is to absorb and experience from nature and our surroundings. "[So] much to learn. I am amazed every time I open a book."

Contemplating her next words, her rising eyes and smile slouched, then her lips said, "I don't think art can stop existing. To me, it is pretty scary to think about what could happen if there wasn't any art. What bothers me now is that we seem to be in this slap-in-the-face generation where everyone appears to be looking for some shock value and may have distanced themselves from the essentials of art expression, sacrificing it for a commercialized, corporation driven conformity."

Her slouched eyes and smile quickly rose like a newborn sun when she reminisced about her first art memory. When she was a child, her mother used to draw young Caitlin butterflies. She was amazed at her mother's artistic abilities and talent, -- for this was a time when children have a hard time drawing a straight line, let alone the complexities of a butterfly. From that moment on, Caitlin Flynn has been enamored with art and the fanciful freedom it embodies and gives off.

Whether she is drawing a straight line, reproducing her mother's butterflies, or slow dancing with the careless whispers of jazz, we know that Caitlin Flynn will continue her journey through the halls of her art consciousness.

Will we ever find out what the roots of her true ancestry, gypsy or not, are? I do not know. Nonetheless, I left our conversations with a sense that intuitively and internally she knew from exactly what soil the roots of her essence grew: art.

Her Jazz series will be featured, along with six other UNH artists, in The Waysmeet Art Gallery at the Waysmeet Center, located at 15 Mill Rd, Durham, NH. (across the street from C-lot and Alexander Hall). This series runs just as rapidly with passion as her words on art - a pure, undisturbed current, flowing freely from the unrehearsed headwaters of her heart. The gallery opens on Thurs, Oct. 16th from 8pm-11pm. Thereafter, it will be open to the public from 9am-9pm every day.

For news and updates on Caitlin Flynn, and details and information on The Waysmeet Art Gallery email nhartistscircle@yahoo.com.