Wishing and Doing

Opening Friday Aug. 5 from 6-8. Demo Sunday Aug. 7th from 1-2:30

Artist Statement-

Hope starts with a wish and strengthens with effort. It’s the doing that makes the wishes come true.

That’s the broad theme of these paintings. Non-representational painting (abstract) is challenging, not only for me but for you too. My paintings are asking you to get involved with them. The titles are clues to their meaning. Try to guess before you read the title and see if we agree. Whatever you see or feel in the work is right; you don’t have to see what I do. That’s the beauty of non-representational work:

we bring our lifetime of experiences into the viewing. Our stories are not the same.

I use acrylic paint, collage, crayons, pencils and acrylic markers in my work. There are a lot of layers built up on each painting. I love the surface texture or patina that I get when I work this way. I like a painting to get your attention from across the room, and then reward you with an interesting surface when you come up close. Occasionally I have a design in mind when I start working, but lately I’ve let the paintings take the lead. That means it’s more of a call and response type of method. I just start painting and let the previous marks and strokes dictate what comes next. It’s fun, but it also means I make a lot of really bad paintings. There are many misses using this organic process, but when it works, it’s magic.