Speak for Yourself

Speak for Yourself 

You may or may not remember me saying recently that I was trying out a technique called grisaille for my underpaintings. I am aware of this technique being used in other types of painting, but not often in abstract painting. It is a big learning curve for me as I try to discover how much detail to put into the first layer, how much shading works while still allowing the color to communicate, and how to bring out the composition and focal point of a painting when it is more muted, or sometimes more rich than many of my paintings. 

This painting is both rich in color, and also muted in tone. I actually had a lot of fun working on the black and white underpainting; seeing how much detail and feeling I could get into that early layer before adding the color. I loved the foundational layer, so I thought it had a good chance of making a final work that I would like. 

11" x 14"

Painted with the finest quality heavy-body acrylic paint on acid-free, heavy weight Fabriano watercolor paper

Ready to frame

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When I consider creative imagination, or what spurs me when I paint, one factor surely is playing with my materials and learning what happens if I do this or that. I love watching paint dry. I love mixing colors - even when they don't make 'pretty' colors. I love to study and learn from successful artists who have gone before me. These things make skills available, and ideas accessible for making work that speaks for itself.

If I could say it, I wouldn't have to dance it. Isadora Duncan

I have yet to meet an artist who creates just because it's “fun” to make – the things they create are sharing a piece of the artist's desires, their soul, what they want the world to be. Jake Stichter, paper on art in the public square (Yes, Jake is my son, and this is from a grad school level paper written for a course in Worship Arts studies.)

Colossians 3:23 - 24 Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ.