untitled 26,
2015, mixed media on multipanel,48x49inches
What are you working on in
your studio right now?
My studio is currently full of
panels with dimensions ranging between 30x3 & 96x12 inches, I call these,
multipanel paintings. I figured out a way to paint using text. This is
something I've been trying to figure out for some time now. I'm very happy with
this current body of work because it's full of process and subject potential.
Can you describe your working
routine?
I don't have a work routine.
I’m always in and out of the studio. My working area is one door away and most
of the painting is done at night after our kids are tucked in. During the day I
go out hunting for objects, constructing my panels, observing, and enjoying the
works in progress.
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Can you describe your studio
space and how, if at all, that affects your work?
One of my biggest thrills in
painting is making large scale works. Currently I work in a 2 car garage with a
limited ceiling height of 8 feet. Once in a while I pull a painting outside to
stretch out, but for the most part I keep indoors. The only way that my working
space affects or dictates my work is in terms of scale. I would probably be
producing 14 foot paintings if I had the space, but I make the best of it. One
of my goals is to build a decent sized studio space in our back yard.
Tell me about your process,
where things begin, how they evolve etc.
In relation to abstraction and
its total freedom, I begin by randomly painting with a variety of water based
paints such as wood stains, fabric paint, acrylic from tubes, and latex house
paints, building up to a variety of inks, permanent markers, oil pastels, oil
bars, oil tube paints, and at times oil house paints. I proceed by scratching
some or most of it off. Then, the found objects begin to make their way onto
the surface. As soon as I figure out what a painting in progress is telling me,
or I figure out what I'm doing, I stop and move on to the next piece.
Part of my drive for making
art comes from a dream I had years ago when I was at the beginning stages of
painting. I woke up thinking, “That was a great show!” Then I realized those
must have been my paintings. The only actual memory I have is that it was in a
rundown building with about 10 large scale paintings. One of my goals is to try to recreate the paintings in that
beautiful dream. In my 17 years of painting, I believe I’ve already created two
of the paintings that were in that dream. So if it takes me a lifetime to
search my subconscious for the rest of the paintings in that dream, then I have
plenty of work to do.
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Untitled 25 in progress
untitled 25,
2015, mixed media on multipanel, 96x108inches
What are you having the most
trouble resolving?
There are always struggles
along with successes at any given time in resolving an Art piece. For me, my
struggles as a human being will always define my work as an artist.
Do you experiment with
different materials a lot or do you prefer to work within certain
parameters?
I tend to experiment with
imagery and process. By using digital sketching my paintings take on a
figurative form, but for the most part I use the same materials.
What does the future hold for
this work?
If I can accurately predict
the future, this work will make its debut here on Studio Critical. It will then
move into the physical world for the Contemporary Art Month in San Antonio,
Texas, March 12, 2015, with future shows in Denver, Colorado, and Dallas,
Texas.
Is there anything else you
would like to add?
Valerie, thank you for
inviting me to participate in this, The Louvre of blogs, it just goes on and on
with amazing contemporary painting.
untitled 24,
2015, mixed media with found object on multipanel, 96x96inches
