July 27, 2010 | Filed Under news
Sometimes a piece comes together ridiculously easily. The colour work, the composition works and there’s this sense of “ta-da!” at the end. Other times, every step is a struggle, every area is worked and re-worked. It’s hard to say which end product is the most satisfying. At the end of the day, it’s the process that is the most interesting part of art-making.
This painting is the first in a set of four that started with the same red/orange base colour. Each of the four has a completely different colour scheme stemming from the original red. Working away from the red/orange on the colour wheel, I went with a deeper, cooler, maroon and a warmer, paler yellow. Then I choose a very pale sage green to contrast with the reds.
The painting is about two inches deep, with layers of wood on three levels. The bottom-most layer is flush with the back of the frame, the middle layer is flush with the top of the frame, and the bottom left corner is raised above the frame. On top of that, individual squares of canvas project off the picture plane as well.
When constructing these types of paintings, I spend a lot of time arranging the wood pieces into just the right composition. These pieces are kind of like puzzles, but I don’t know what I’m making until it’s all finished. Sometimes I spend an hour finding the perfect arrangement of shapes. Throughout this process, I’m looking at edges and colours and the way the shapes overlap.