Time for a little art update. What's been happening in the studio recently? I came back from Thanksgiving all revved up and excited about several projects I've been working on. So I thought I'd use this post to do a little behind the scenes peek and share with you what I've been doing.
This week it's been all about what I've been painting! I've been painting on a very large canvas, 5 feet wide by 6 feet tall! Now, there's a story behind this canvas. About 10 years ago I decided I wanted to go BIG and create much bigger paintings. My friend's brother who is an artist and carpenter generously offered to make a huge easel for me if I supplied the materials. My son ~ so little! ~ was a very good helper at the hardware store and helped me gather up everything we needed. The easel ended up being 7 feet tall! Wow! Luckily it all came apart to fit into my little hatchback so I could get it home.
Then instead of buying pre-assembled canvases from the art supply store, I bought a frame and canvas separately and another friend helped me put it all together and to stretch the canvas across the frame.
It was quite intimidating to first put paint on that canvas, but I jumped right in and got started, this was all during the summer of 2015.
Then life happened. My mom got very sick and ended up passing away in just a few months time. My cats both got sick ~ separately ~ and each had to be put down. I moved house the following month. Life felt very upside down. It was all too much a once. But as I often turn to my creative practice as a kind of therapy, I tried again with the big canvas. There were several attempts to keep going, putting paint down, layer after layer, no matter what it looked it like. But it never got very far. This one kept an eye on me for quite a while during one phase where I neglected it.
At one point I covered up the whole thing with black paint. Fresh start. But it sat for another year.
I made one valiant attempt in 2017. Lots and lots of layers went onto the canvas during this round. Finally!
But pretty quickly it became a prop for smaller paintings that came and went over the last 9 years, collecting paint and more drips and layers along the way.
But FINALLY! This last month I got busy. And BOOM! In just a few weeks I've made significant progress on it and am actually quite excited by what's emerged. A lot of layers have gone into this, though you may not be able to tell from the photo.
It's ALMOST done! Maybe a few more details... then I'll share the final piece.
But the amazing part of all of this is that I'm realizing that I do indeed have a certain style, and a certain way of using color that is uniquely mine. After 15 years of calling myself an artist, I now really mean it. Can't wait to see what comes next!
You can find my art at indigomoone.com.
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