On February sixth, 2015, twelve of my newest paintings will be shown with other artists in an exhibition titled Size Matters at The Center for Visual Artists in downtown Greensboro. The works in the exhibit are either big or small.
From the time I began painting again in 2010, my work was small in scale and delicate in
brushwork. Those early paintings depicted skies and quiet oceans; and then in 2012, my subject matter turned to tornadoes, storms and fires. As 2013 dawned, I had a deep desire to work on a larger scale and found birch plywood doors were a perfect surface. Hard and stiff against a large brush, the toothy surface was a welcome change from stretched canvas. I approached these large scaled doors with a vengeance, splashing and pouring color, drawing overlays with graphite and chalk worked over with turpentine and oil paint. The work on doors has opened doors into my own creativity.
brushwork. Those early paintings depicted skies and quiet oceans; and then in 2012, my subject matter turned to tornadoes, storms and fires. As 2013 dawned, I had a deep desire to work on a larger scale and found birch plywood doors were a perfect surface. Hard and stiff against a large brush, the toothy surface was a welcome change from stretched canvas. I approached these large scaled doors with a vengeance, splashing and pouring color, drawing overlays with graphite and chalk worked over with turpentine and oil paint. The work on doors has opened doors into my own creativity.
There are three overarching themes running through this group of paintings, all with a sense of the awareness of life’s passage. This work reflects and expresses my ties to hard personal realities of the past two years. The abstract paintings deal with existential, delicate webs, and the woven color works speak to the intricacies of life that are impenetrable and dense. The horizontal landscapes attempt to communicate a profound sense of wonder while expressing a sense of aloneness. The tree paintings mark the passage of time, watching my garden and nature through the seasons. Color is an important component in the work, as is a continuing investigation of possible ways to apply paint, from sheer glazes to heavy impasto. Size does matter in the manner in which paint is applied, and manipulated.
