The Painting Made Me Do It

The past few weeks I have been juggling different tasks in and out of the studio. Turning 26 seemed to have come as quite as that big beetle sneaking across my bathroom floor. These next few weeks are a few one year markers for a variety of things in my life. But for now, I shall write about my work. I am currently working on a mini series inspired by the world around me. I am using objects and my love of the grid format and organizing to create a series of paintings. I will have approximately 40 5x5in paintings showing during the month of November. I will also have one large triptych I have been working on.




The large triptych :: I had these panels for some time and i have been playing around with them ever since. I had created these interesting paintings, good ideas but they always seemed like they were lacking something. I sat with the paintings in my space for a few months and with the upcoming show in Monterey, I thought this would be a great opportunity to work on the painting and get it where it really wants to be, which is the sea.

So, I took my paintings apart. For me there is always an underlying feeling of nausea and unease when I look at a painting im about to knowingly destroy. Sometimes I feel bad, as I look at it, and it looks at me. The painting and I have this moment which I can not really explain, but there is a moment and within this moment, I know, I can feel that the painting is ok with the change, and I have to be as well. I have to let go of all my notions and just go for it, full steam ahead. burn baby, burn and don't look back. Here are the photographs of two of the panels. before I destroyed them, which you never saw before either unless you are in my crit circle. :) These paintings both have bones I was collecting on my walks. I used a masking technique and heavy pigmented wax to achieve the bold...unrelenting shapes.





And here I go, With one already destroyed, there is no going back. Im going to iron it out and see how it feels. The painting took a few directions before we found the path we are on now. Anyone who has seen my work, or talked to me knows how in love with the environment I am. I love to read a good book about the ocean. "The Deep" is one of my favs, I have had this book for over a year and I still learn new things every time i open it up. There are amazing images in the book that really keep my imagination flowing. Science is rad I just love it!

I love to paint, I really love to paint and the weather is really testing that love. Im a layers kinda gal this day was one of the first times in a long time that my fingers were extremely cold after painting...with heat...but my friends, the show must go on! There are sunny days, warm days, days full of the chattering quail, and days where my lungs breathe in the crisp valley air and my eyes take in the changing color palettes on my hill.







Well on to the next. The work above is in progress and I have these small graphite transfers of all things underwater and even a few naked mermaids, even though the mermaids are NOT in any of my science books I think their cool. The painting made me do it. On to the minis!












There goes the Sun and here comes the Moon. Until tomorrow studio!