Pompous? I hope not!

 The eight SOBs are getting ready for our May show at Anton Art Center in Mt.Clemens, Michigan.  We will have about a half-dozen paintings each, plus a "history room" that will show the background of our group.

The Art Center will also have on display a book with our various artist statements, so all of us are writing new ones or updating old ones.  The following is what I'm using this time around.  I always think that writing statements makes me sound pompous. 

Maybe that's the point?

 

“Art” should  be a verb,   not a noun!

I  prepare to paint by stretching my watercolor paper:  I soak it, then staple it to a backing, and allow  it to dry taut and clean. The process is magical for me, pregnant with possibility and hope.  There are infinite possibilities ahead of me with this sheet of paper.  It may be a failure, destined to be torn for collage, or gessoed over, or scrubbed, or just recycled.  Perhaps it’s destined to be a  personal “masterpiece”, a work to give me joy and confidence for years to come.

 Before I’ve even made my first marks, from the moment I’ve decided on subject matter,  the possibilities and options begin to narrow. My choices become more limited,  driven by previous choices, previous marks.  (wait a minute… is that not exactly like life?)

The total fascination of art for me is that journey, from the first moment with the blank sheet of paper, to the ending, whatever it may be (successful or not).  Decisions of subject, color, design, texture all provide my escape from life’s more difficult decisions and choices.

 I generally paint using traditional watercolor techniques and materials, with recognizable subject matter. I often enhance and expand on my subject matter by obscuring the actual original environment using dramatic value contrasts and patterns.

Click Here to visit the ANTON ART CENTER site.

Click Here to visit the Sisters of the Brush website.