Words and Pictures

It's been a busy Spring and Summer with little time for art but I'm inspired again and back in the studio; working on a few different things now.

I saw a movie last night, "Words and Pictures" with Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche. It wasn't a great movie but a good one and the subject matter was interesting—what is better for inspired communication, words or pictures? Juliette Binoche is one of my favorite actresses and she played a painter with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Every movement was painful for her so she had to find a new way to paint. And she painted LARGE pieces. My husband and friends are always encouraging me to work bigger since most of my pieces are around 12" x12" or smaller; more intimate works. Watching her use big brushes, cans of paint and large, full-body movements was so compelling and inspiring that I decided I just had to try it, on a smaller scale of course due to space restrictions. So this morning I pulled out a 30" x 24" canvas, put it down on the floor of our laundry room and just started squeezing paint onto it and moving it around with a brush. It was so fun! I just went with it, no judgment, nothing specific in mind, just painting and mixing color on the canvas itself. And now I have some base art; no longer a blank canvas but color and shapes to work with. This is the first painting I've started without collage so it will be interesting to see where I go with it. It's a total experiment. I just know I need to free myself up to try things and work out of my comfort zone. I'll post my progress as it moves along. So here's to new beginnings!

And speaking of 12" x 12" pieces, I pulled out an old mixed media piece I started last year in France and worked on it today. I think it's finished–or finished for now anyway. I'm calling it "Swimming In Red." I'm working with bigger pieces of my own painted collage papers and then adding some additional smaller elements and layers of color. I have another couple that I'm working on which I'll post here when I'm finished.

I am inspired to to try working larger now and experiment more with paint. I still love doing my mixed media collage paintings so I'll see if I can translate these into bigger pieces. If not, so be it. I'm just excited to see where my art is taking me next.