About Robin Moore

Robin Moore was born in Manhattan in 1956. Her parents were both accomplished classical musicians. Her family soon moved upstate, where she immediately took to the streams, the lush woods, the farms, dairies, and orchards tucked in the folds of the Catskill Mountains. Shortly before her teens, her family moved to the heart of downtown Los Angeles. The culture shock formed a lasting nostalgia for nature that is in much of her work. During high school she then moved to Northern California, taking up photography, but also exploring interests in music (guitar and vocals), beadwork, drawing and painting. Later she studied film and creative writing. Ultimately, though, Robin settled into painting and drawing, graduating from the California College of Arts and Crafts in 1980, with a major in both fields. Each medium she’s undertaken, however, has influenced the others, and much of her painting centers around photographs she’s taken, or is related to the songs, stories, films, or actors that have inspired her.

Robin writes:

“I’m inspired by the way it feels to be an observer, more than by any vision behind why I paint. All I know is that I can’t paint unless I feel moved to make a deep connection to the subject. I often use photographs as a source, but not with the intent of doing photographic likeness, or realism, or for the ease of reducing objects into two-dimensional form. It’s the way the camera captures movement and light, and preserves the spirit of an instant. When I paint, I establish a bond – ‘become’ my subject, like an actor approaches character. What I internalize gets moved back out of myself, onto the page. The sensual grace of a brush on canvas is a form of affection, a caress of another unique identity. Painting also feels deeply tied to nature - playing with tools and elements that stem from the earth. I can’t think of any other reason for painting than to seek all these subtle connections.”