Get to know June’s Artist in Residence

My name is Randahl Ott, and this is a short snippet of the many things that led me to where I am, and who I am. I am sixty-two years old and jumped into art about 2 years ago. Like so many people, I have wrestled with depression. We have been in ceaseless battle since I was a student at Pangaea High School.

I have lived with HIV for thirty-two years, more than half my life. The early fight in the nineteen nineties was full of the loss of friends through ravage of disease, side effects of the early medications, and suicide. Amid these events, the suicide of my father left me spiraling down into darkness; stuck in a cycle of weight loss and gain culminating in a 5’-5” man weighing three-hundred forty-seven pounds. I had a gastric bypass to lose weight, and fifteen years later, today I maintain a healthy weight. Life is precious and fragile. I met my partner Tim only two months after completing two years of PT due to a near fatal car accident involving a tractor trailer resulting in fourteen broken bones, traumatic brain injury, peritonitis, internal bleeding, and renal failure.

Tim was a huge support as I finally addressed the trauma. He saved my life, literally. I might not be here if not for his ability to quickly spot a stroke that did not start with the typical symptoms we have been taught. I was lucky to receive fast treatment, which helped me through with little ill effects. Life is precious and fragile.

The art has been a therapeutic, which is why I decided to explore it. Creating something beautiful and using my creativity aids in elevating my mood. When I first investigated paint-pouring, I thought it would be easy, but I was rather mistaken. You must think through many details to get the colors you want and where you want, and the abstraction of it fascinates me most because it leaves the interpretation of each piece to the observer.

I greatly appreciate The Community Center at Grace Presbyterian for allowing me a chance to display my art. I hope you will appreciate my work. Perhaps, you will like some pieces. Maybe, you will think some paintings are awful. However, if they make you think, I am happy either way. Though I feel intimidated, time is precious; persevere through the difficulties, and do not wait to say or do what your heart is leading you to do.