Finding Subtlety

I love the quiet, beautiful, powerful work of artists like Shawna Moore and Rebecca Crowell (whom I hope to take a workshop with next year!) Their work in neutral color palettes, Shawna in encaustics and Rebecca in oils, moves me in ways I can't even explain with words. The glowing depth and nuanced texture they achieve in their respective mediums inspires me to take my own medium (acrylics) and color palette (bold, high-contrast, sharp colors) and push them to find their limits. So, the idea here is to tame my color palette... to use it in a new way that evokes the nuance I so desperately hope to achieve while still remaining true to myself.

While I seek subtly, and chase after the capricious and elusive muse, I destroy my work space.

Along with the three pieces I displayed in my last blog post, this particular studio-wrecking session also produced two other pieces, both finished this week.

This piece measures 3 feet x 6 feet and contains many, many layers of acrylics.

 
This piece is the same size as the first three I did in my effort to find subtlety, 18" x 24".

I do feel like I'm making progress, and more than that, I'm almost forcing the hand of my muse, making her come back to me. These pieces are giving me ideas for the next ones in the series, and are showing me a path, though still vague, forward. But I've been doing this long enough to know now that vague paths 1) are better than no paths at all, and 2) usually lead somewhere more concrete and decisive if only you find the courage to follow them.

The next two panels are large- 24" x 36", and heavy; they're cradled gessoboard, and need space in which to be moved and manipulated, so I cleaned up.

And because these pieces seem to use so much more paint than my usual work, I shopped.

I purchased paint in my bright, sparkly colors to replace the paint I used up, but this time, I also bought an earth-toned palette, too, to try out and see if I enjoy it as much as the more modern colors I tend to use.

Onward. Upward. Outward.