The Grand Finale
Studio Painting: Tempera and Acrylic
Artist Statement
My most recent body of work has focused on the landscape I experience every day – drawn to the unexpected colors and contrasts in moments of changing light, intrigued by the shifting transitions between day and night. Exploring new techniques and building upon concepts of light, depth, and composition, I have attempted to capture moments in time that are short-lived: the ephemeral light of a sunset on the way home, or the fading light of the autumn moon as the blue sky of morning begins to emerge. I am inspired by our natural world each day, by its constant motion and variety, and through my work I hope to express the beauty and wonder of this continual drama unfolding in the world around us.
Stretch and ExploreMy initial thoughts focused on a few pictures of the moon I took several years ago. My interests shifted as I began to look through reference pictures and I began to notice how much I enjoy the fields in our area, especially this time of year. The variety of textures and colors seemed like a perfect fit for some heavy impasto work, and as I often struggle with addressing the foreground, this seemed like a good challenge to focus on for my final showcase.
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Engage and Persist
NEW WORK
After toning the canvases and building some structure to the compositions I began to work on these two pieces with the goal of completing them in one session. The use of the modeling paste and heavy gloss medium really forced me to work in a quick, responsive manner. Click on the images below for some more insight. |
THE NARROWS. . . Dialing it in!
I decided to take the opportunity to revisit and refine a work from earlier in the course. Though I feel like the piece was quite far along and was very happy with he way it was developing, I knew there were a few areas I wanted to address before calling it finished. Click on the images below to see what I was thinking. |
Share and ReflectGoldenrod
This time of year is one of my favorites for colors, textures, and fields! The little pops of color from different wildflowers, the wonderful ochers that start to show as things fade into their fall colors . . . it is sensory overload for me! This painting was inspired by a picture I took on one of my walks in Gettysburg. The Battlefield has some of the best views of uninterrupted fields. Through the application of the modeling paste and the buildup of textures, I was able to really play around with the directions in which I pushed the paint. |
Goldenrod acrylic 12" x 12"
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End of Summer acrylic 12" x 12"
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End of Summer
As I return to the classroom this week, the title for this one is quite fitting! There is a nice energy to this piece, I really enjoy the way the mark-marking plays with the subject matter of the field. With both of the recent impasto pieces I felt that ever elusive state of FLOW! I really like how this style of painting requires an intuitive response to the feelings of the landscapes. You have to move quickly, mix colors in a fast free manner, and find areas to allow for some calm. |
The Narrows
WOW! Big paintings are BIG energy! This view has been such painful fun to paint! One thing that I've really enjoyed during this process is the connection to the place. I contemplate this view pretty much every day on my way to and from work, and every day it has a different feel. Though I did work from specific photographs and referenced them for the composition, I feel like this piece has aspects of many of the different memories of the beauty and grandeur of this classic Adams County view. |
The Narrows acrylic 30" x 40"
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