Home: Places of the Heart

What places have been home to you? Why do our hearts get attached to a place? How can art capture the essence of “being home?”

These and other important questions will be explored in Jed Dorsey’s upcoming art show Home: Places of the Heart at Sunnyshore Studio on Saturday, October 20th and 27th. Jed’s painting touch hearts because they evoke that longing for “home” that Jed says was all have. Sunnyshore Studio sat down with Jed to explore the connection of home and his artwork.

Sunnyshore Studio: What places have been home to you? Tell us about them your homes?

Jed Dorsey: When I think of home, there are several places that come to mind. They are Camano Island, Vancouver, BC, Indianapolis, and Edmonton.

Within each of those places, there are more specific locations that stand out. My parents’ house, for instance, is where I grew up, and it has always been our home away from home wherever I have lived with Renae through the years. But Camano Island has other places that I regard as home. The beach across from Mom and Dad’s house is one of them. I spent so many summers there. The flatlands as you cross onto Camano Island is another. There’s no place like it for me. When I get there and see that, I feel like I am finally home.

And the other cities have similar special places, whether it is a house or a neighborhood or a park. Significant places where I have spent time with people I love – that’s the common theme.

Why do you think “home” evokes such powerful emotions in our hearts?

I believe we all long for a home. Whether that is a real home of our past where we remember good times or people we’ve loved, or whether it’s something we’ve never really had, I think we all have a deep longing for a place of belonging and safety and love.

And places matter to us because we have memories connected to places. We grow fond of a place often not just because of what it actually looks like but because of the memory connected to it. And most of our memories involve other people. There’s an old poem that says, “,,,it takes a heap o’living in a house to make it home.” That’s because it’s not the exact physical place that makes the home, it is something more than that: the relationships and memories of life together with people we love and who have loved us. And no matter whether we’ve had a lot of that in the past or not that much, we all long for it.

How can a painting capture the essence of home in a way that maybe a photograph or memory can’t?

Perhaps because a painting can bring our imaginations to life more than a photograph. If I took a photo of a particular house, you would know it wasn’t the house of your childhood because of the exactness of a photo. But if I painted the same house, you might see something that makes you think of the house of your childhood and because it is more suggestive in its nature, your heart might override your mind into believing it is your childhood home even if it knows I didn’t paint your exact house.

Which of your paintings best evoke that sense of home? Describe why they do this for you.

That really just depends on who is looking at the painting. For me, they all evoke a sense of home for different reasons. Some of the paintings will speak to different people more strongly than others. But that is for the viewers to decide for themselves.

What are the hopes you have for your “home” art show coming up in October at Sunnyshore Studio?

I am looking forward to sharing good times with people I love in a place I love.