Start Where you Are!

I have decided to resurrect my old blog, and so instead of trying to recap over the past 4-5 years I’m starting right here, right now.

For the past 2-3 years i have been rather dedicated to exploring cold wax and oil as a painting medium, and because of requests from my family and others, to see some of these images ( a lot of people don’t use face book or instagram), so today i will do a short introduction to my paintings.

Cold wax and oil is a way of applying paint to a surface, mostly a hard surface like birch veneer. These surfaces are covered with gesso and then they are ready to go! My main interest is in exploring abstract images….i guess i would say I’m a ‘process’ oriented painter, which just means, i make marks, put down paint and keep responding to what I’m seeing. I’m never sure where I’m going or what will appear! One of the main attractions for me is the ability to lay down many layers of paint, scrape thro to reveal what has gone before. Of particular interest for me right now incorporates the use of Venetian plaster as an under layer.

Here is one of the first images I made using plaster as an under painting, this image is 12″ x 12″.

I’m also very intrigued with the notion of what happens in the subconscious part of the brain, how we as painters process the visual world around us and then, for example, without taking such ideas as trees, or grass literally, we might find tree like marks emerging.

I’ve been reading a very enthralling book, The First Signs, that explores what types of marks were being created over 100,000 years ago……much of the book refers to images found deep inside caves, all over the world! It is an astonishing read! When i looked at this image after making it, i saw a cave like image with light coming thro….exposing some ancient hidden marks! None of this was intentional!

That’s all for the time being.