In the studio I use memories of the places and things I encounter to start compositions by making gestural marks, scribbles and shapes with pencils.
As the memory starts to take shape I will layer new painted or drawn shapes and colors over the images to distort and transform them. Allowing the paint to dry to differing degrees I will partially remove the layers with solvents, cloths or sharp edged tools. I want to reveal what has been hidden beneath the surface or left behind, mimicking the slow processes of decay, rebirth and transformation I witness in the world around me – where what once existed is partially forgotten but never fully erased.
During the process of creating paintings, I will often take progress photographs of the pieces at various stages in their development. I create miniature studies of the paintings by printing the photographs on 8-1/2 x 11 paper. Using acrylic paint and ballpoint pens I will add new colors and shapes onto the photographs, experimenting with options to resolve the image or create alternative transformations, allowing the painting to be taken in a new direction. Quite often, one painting will inspire the next. The evolution of and unexpected changes to one piece will become the starting points for a new composition.
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