John Seed interviews painter Brenda Goodman on the occasion of an exhibition of new paintings at John Davis Gallery, Hudson, New York, on view from July 19 – August 12, 2012.

Seed writes: "Goodman, who has painted for over 50 years, surrenders to the act of painting itself, and lets the emotions — however difficult they may be — bloom directly from her unconscious. Her work is never precious, since she observes that it is often the 'precious area that's keeping the painting from being finished.' Over the years she has learned to trust that balance and resolution will indeed appear if you let them. 'Through the years I've gone from taking days or weeks to let something go… to minutes,' Goodman notes. 'To me, this is one of the most spiritual acts of painting.' "