Gray Clouds + White Bars

Mixed media on canvas, 51” x 55” 

I always say stripes are like visual comfort food and I love using them–they are the simplest, most familiar pattern we know. In this painting, in the upper right they read as an awning or like a grate on the street or bars on a window. The rest of the piece holds elements of all the other things I love and search for in a painting. A sense of light, expansive space, active brushwork, drawn lines, collaged elements to give dimensionality and in this case, interesting and peaceful passages of color. I completed this painting while doing a residency at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. The studios there are big and bright. At the time my studio was at my house and was quite small. It’s one of my favorite paintings I did there, and I love how it reflects what I felt at the time which was joyful freedom in a big new space.