Variations on Tangled Trees
Entangled 3, 60x48, oil on canvas, 2018
Winter brings concentrated studio time. I like these days spent out of the cold in my studio where painting from observation shifts to painting from drawings and photographs, removed from the source, and responding to the painting itself as it progresses. My interest in Virginia's invasive vines has led to experimentation with drawing, using a variety of materials.
Tangle study, mixed media on yupo, 2017
I'm enjoying working on large canvases (60"x48") and the freedom of paint application that it allows. I've just completed the eighth painting of the this series. The first five were done from more objective observation while I was in Virginia last spring, while these three large paintings focus on movement and variation.
Entangled 1, 58x46, oil on canvas, 2017
Study for Entangled 2, graphite on paper, 2017
Entangled 2, 60x48, oil on canvas, 2018
I require more preliminary drawings for a large canvas to help determine my direction. The drawings aid the decision making process as I search for composition in the painting. While I do not often use the drawing directly or exactly, making them before I begin to paint prepares me for placement of the subject, mark making, and development of form, as if I have uploaded a map of the potential process.
Tangle Study, mixed media on yupo, 2017
Tangle Study, mixed media on yupo, 2017
Tangle Study, mixed media on yupo, 2017
Tangled Trees, Study, graphite on paper, 2017
Details of the large paintings emphasize the movement over the subject and context. That may be my next direction.
Detail, Entangled 2
Detail, Entangled 3