Tag: oil on canvas

Providence (2019)

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Oil on canvas
30 x 40 inches

This piece is a prime example of the unpredictability in spontaneous painting. My usual process in a “geode” painting is to mix the paint directly on the canvas and eventually begin blending the colors to produce the band-like effects. With this piece, however, once I finished the initial mixing stage, I realized this is what the painting wanted to be – it didn’t want me to go any further. Even thought I’d just begun, I listened to the painting and stepped away. This piece reminded me that sometimes, the most important actions are the ones you don’t take.

On display in our home:
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1,102 (2015)

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House paint and oil on canvas
30 x 40 inches

Inspired by a photograph I took of the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, O’ahu, Hawaii in June, 2014. More than 2.3 quarts of oil percolate to the surface from the battleship every day, serving as a reminder to those who visit that the site is still very active. While it’s obviously not good for the aquatic environment, I find the periodic oil blooms on the surface to be a poignant unintentional feature of the memorial; almost as if the spirits of the 1,102 people that lost their life there are acknowledging the millions of people who pay their respects each year.