Start of Painting #5 and End of Year Thoughts
12.30.2023
I wanted to show a more process focused image for this post because the last few posts have been highlighting completed work. Each new canvas provides an exciting adventure where I am able to build out the idea I created in the study or sketch into a more comprehensive piece. My main goal is to create viewer engagement while representing the essence of the time and place that inspired the composition to begin with. With this series I am beginning each painting with a stretched, unprimed canvas. There are areas that will remain unprimed and areas that will be primed in order to achieve a different type of surface quality and build visual contrast. Because the collage study is void of a background due to the fact that my original plan was to build a relief painting with cut out wood panels of each shape in the collage, I am mapping out the background areas in a small thumbnail before beginning each painting. The primed vs. unprimed areas are also determined prior to beginning. The “backgrounds” are all now part of the composition because they were part of what was observed within each grouping of photos, no part of the compositions are arbitrary.
I mask off the unprimed areas first and apply the thin acrylic to these areas before masking out the spaces that will be primed with gesso. There will be occasions where I will go back and forth between unprimed and primed areas depending on the composition and how I want each part to read spatially. I am enjoying using the unprimed areas to create a sense of atmosphere and distance while the primed areas seem to have a quality that are more sharp or in-focus.
I have officially declined the opportunity to exhibit a limited number of these paintings in Venice with the ECC next year. I feel good about my decision because it allows me more time to complete and document this series in order to propose a more complete exhibition of these paintings in a larger venue here in the states. I really want the opportunity to exhibit a large number of them together in order to more effectively tell the story of the time and places I was interacting with. As I reflect on 2023, my experience in Venice was my favorite highlight, among many up’s and down’s. I am so grateful for the opportunity and extremely proud of myself for deciding to go. I had never traveled abroad alone. I had never been away for 2 full weeks at a time. And I have never gotten to know more interesting and inspiring people in a single group before. I will cherish the experience for the rest of my life and hope to visit Venice again as soon as I possibly can. The work I am creating will be a powerful reminder of my time there and I cannot wait to share it.
In addition to my reflecting, I also made a weird but wonderful observation when looking back at my 2023 vision board. In December 2022/January 2023 I included an image of a woman walking in the streets of Venice because one of my many goals was to travel and experience new places. It wasn’t until April 2023 that I would make the decision to accept the invitation to attend the Contemporary Art Course with the ECA. Mind blown!
On to 2024 with a new vision, new goals, and new challenges! I can’t wait, cheers!
