About My Process
Plastic sheeting
Plastic sheeting allows me to shape color and channel the flow of paint. Composition is a result of the process. Plastic sheeting is the tool I use to spontaneously organize pours of color. It is removed when the paint has dried. I'm often surprised by what has emerged. Additional paint is then applied directly. As a result of this process, paint exerts pressure on the picture plane from behind, like someone pressing their face and hands to window glass.
This process evolved over several years–– a process that grew from my previous work using plastic sheeting to transfer acrylic skins to paper and canvas. It enables me to work freely, without preconception, and to respond freely as the painting develops.
The surface varies widely. The resulting gloss and matte shapes may appear like stained glass or ice flows or aerial views of dried desert landscapes.
On paper and canvas
Most of my paintings, over time, have been acrylic on paper, in various sizes. They are often painted simultaneously, in small groups on my work table. Many are “experimental” as I work out new ideas (color, composition, applications), looking for new directions and possibilities. As I follow my “muse” (where the paintings lead), a series may develop. Strays and orphans–leftover paintings–are simply the road not taken.
Watercolor on paper
My “rainy day” watercolors are painted at home working on a drafting table. The paints are liquid watercolors, colors from tubes, and homemade watercolors using disperse pigments. They are small in scale, painted on cold press papers from pads. Each begins with a spontaneous gesture using brushes, sometimes flooding the surface in color. I generally work back into them, as needed, to create the painting. They have proven to be an exercise in patience.
Silkscreen Mesh 2022-2024
Experimental at this stage, I’ve begun using silkscreen mesh, painted one or more colors, to collage onto canvas. The mesh replaces the plastic sheeting formerly used to spread and shape color. While similar in effect, it cuts drying time, and allows me to use less medium and gel. I have also transferred paint from painted rolls of plastic sheeting to the mesh, which opens more possibilities. It is translucent and holds color beautifully. Painted silkscreen mesh is often incorporated as collage and as a new means of shaping color.
