Greetings!
Painting pure abstraction is not straightforward for me. Representative imagery has a way of creeping into everything I do and taking over, like Lily of the Valley in the garden — which I’ve mentioned before in posts. This recent cycle of paintings started from representation and morphed into abstracts, which is something brand new for me.
Most of my canvases have many layers of paint beneath the final surface you see. These at first told stories — a misty landscape, symbols from mythology, a bouquet of pastel flowers. Next, I began layering solid colours down, leaving pieces of the “story” showing through the grids of circles. The pattern reflected the mood was I was interested in conveying. Besides the tug-of-war I have between abstract and representational, I also have a deep love of folky patterning — polka-dotting, beadwork, stripes, stitchery — the kind of thing that can give you carpal tunnel syndrome.
So while these images are rhythmic abstracts, they contain those other two modes as well.
Enjoy. And please contact me if you would like to see the pieces up close.
