A whole new approach to abstract painting!
June 23, 2020
As part of an expressive arts course I’m taking, I’m embracing a new approach to my work. And, almost magically, new, fun things are starting to emerge within me and on my canvases!
Throughout the course I’m taking with Roseline de Thelin (a fantastic interdisciplinary visual artist based in Ibiza, Spain) we are working on a big project that we are developing little by little each week. As my big project I’m working on a new series of paintings.
Usually when I begin a painting or series, I begin with an artistic vision that I see in my mind’s eye — all based on how I want the piece to look in the end. Then, as I work and witness the painting build, I begin to realize what this work is trying to communicate. In other words, I start with the artistic vision and end with a fully developed concept or message. For my big project, however, I’m turning my process on its head and working in the completely opposite way! Gulp! I’m starting with the message or the feeling I want to convey and developing the vision/style/execution based on that. (Yikes! Super scary!)
In this new series I want to convey a very specific feeling — a poignant moment from early March 2020, just as the pandemic hit the East coast of the US and the rest of the world. The beginning of the pandemic, frankly, was terrifying — crippling when I truly allowed myself to absorb everything and feel.
With information changing hourly and everything about Covid-19 completely unknown, the only way I was able to function was to force myself to stay in the present moment. Not think of tomorrow and what new, scary information might come out. Not wonder how the virus spreads and who might become sick. Not think of yesterday when life felt carefree, we thought we understood what our world was, and we could move around our communities freely. Rather, I had to continually remind myself to stay in the present moment. Right now. Today. This moment. It was a constant struggle, and still it is, depending on the day. Meditating and taking daily walks in the woods was my saving grace, and this is where my series concept initiates.
In my new series I want to transfer that feeling of deep renewal and relief that I felt while regaining inner peace during these walks. A complete calm, a re-grounding in the comfort of nature, knowing that we will get through this, too.
This concept feels like quite a big order to fill, but I’m up for the challenge! It is such an emotionally rich, vivid memory for me, that I want to capture it and share it on my canvases. So, here I go! I’ll follow this new process and see where it leads. Let the fun begin!