Layer upon layer, building an image — or a life

May 2023 — I’m working on the Landscapes in the Abstract show, scheduled to open in June at Theatre Salina. Here’s a short video showing the process.

Each piece starts as a monoprint, created by applying slow-drying acrylic paint on a gel plate, then ‘pulling’ a print. To get the effect I’m after requires many (sometimes dozens!) of thin, transparent layers of paint. When I’m happy with the way these layers look, I sometimes add other media to enhance the image.

While working in the silence, rolling the paint over the plate, printing, checking the somewhat uncontrollable result, and making adjustments, it began to feel like the process was a metaphor for life.

Day by day we pile up experiences, encounters, adventures — all of them creating layers that affect the color and texture of our lives. Then there are times when a huge event comes along (the equivalent of accidentally dropping a big blob of paint on my paper!) which blots out what we had been so meticulously crafting. Sometimes we can see detail in our own lives, at other times it all seems so vague, maybe even meaningless. But if we back up and squint, an image might appear.

A friend speaks the truth (thank you, Ann)

In my last newsletter, I showed you a t-shirt that I designed featuring Marcus Aurelius and his attitude towards correcting one’s own mistakes. A good friend, who had seen my sketchbook tour featuring some of my ‘scribble portraits,’ asked why I didn’t create my own drawing of the famous Stoic in the design, rather than using a public domain image. Touché. Here’s the new design featuring my drawing of Marcus Aurelius, and here’s the previous one.

Until next time, when all the abstract landscapes should be nearing completion!😬

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