Friday, August 10, 2012

The Vale of Tears and Pain


The Vale of Tears and Pain
14” x 20”
Acrylic on paper


For a good part of my life I wanted to be a writer. I molded fictional worlds and created characters out of dialog and thoughts. Many, many short stories and novels were envisioned; some even finished.

But it wasn't until I became a visual artist that I could fully, quickly express myself and complete pieces of work. Color and texture replaced plot and chapters.

I painted "Vale of Tears and Pain" this week in a few sessions. Texture from acrylic mediums, tissues, and papers became the storyboard to which I added warm colors. For me, painting is the best medium I have found to express myself. I really love the simple materials, paper and paint, and a few tools, palette knife, 2" brush, so hands and eyes can create a dance, releasing emotions.

When too much time has elapsed since I painted, as is the case now, I delight and learn anew how precious this form is and wonder why I neglected it. Bookbinding requires design and planning. Painting requires intuition and spontaneity. Hooray for not thinking so much!

3 comments:

  1. I hear ya on the "not thinking so much" part of creating. I despise planning. It's no fun and I feel it really detracts from spontaneity.

    Really enjoying the textures in this. This made me think of the textures I ended up creating with the "sandwich" paintings (no adult content) I experimented with a while ago. Talk about a fun and fast technique! Anyway, just thought I'd share in case you might find it useful.

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  2. You created some great textures on your "sandwich" paintings, Vincent. I did some experimenting along similiar lines a while back, using a piece of plexiglass and flipping it over on the paper. You can also get that vein-like texture by using a palette knife and acrylic paint--lift quickly. Have fun and keep painting!

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