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| "The Observer" 21"x21" acrylic |
If 2019 provides half the learning and change that came with 2018, it's going to be an exciting year for me. Since last April, I spent much of my studio time teaching myself to incorporate a new form of expression in my painting that allows me to speak more clearly. I've learned that when I change the perspective, I create space for ideas and stories. While I was initially inspired by the work of artists like Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Stuart Davis and Charles Sheeler, I took their ideas of expression and made them into my own. Now I'm using my own new and growing body of work to springboard new ideas.
Color, shape and value have always been important to me in my work. Increasingly pattern is playing a more conscious role. Symbols I've developed and personalized over the years move into the compositions naturally. I've learned to think of an object or see a suggestive shape and build a story around it. I like to see how the story changes if I change colors, values or move the object in space. It's like working a puzzle, getting the pieces to fit. I'm doing a lot more thinking.
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| "Her Majesty's Garden" 14"x21" acrylic |
Fran Larsen is correct in insisting that art is work, not fun. The work must be done with the brain engaged. The fun part comes with the satisfaction I get when it's finished and when a piece is accepted into competition or is purchased.
I wish everyone a Happy New Year on this final day of 2018. I have one thing to say to the New Year 2019: "Bring It On."
