August 15, 2003
JEB-ATC2003.05.01-07
(Click to see thumbnails of entire series -- slow server)
Seven oil pastels inspired by Rothko (and probably Kadinsky, although not stylistically) and spiritual simplicity.
Cray-pas Junior Artist Student Quality Oil Pastels (which i've had for years) with a varnish manipulation and glazing. I think i rubbed my finger-tip almost raw.
I don't consider the series closed, because i think i will want to try with acrylics, particularly with the addition of gloss medium.
***
Apparently, even several days later the varnish wasn't dry. I scanned the cards in, lifting two to reposition, and found that some of the "paint" had stuck to the glass. Four of the seven show clear damage.
I'm not sure how i'm going to touch the originals up -- the two that i moved, which then scanned with some damage, i touched up digitally. My spouse recommneds leaving them as they are, citing a wabi sabi aesthetic. Whether that meshes with the effect of silence[QV] or not is hard for me to discern. It is a nod to simplicity, perhaps, to not obsessively touch up and disturb what remains.
"silence": "Silent painting" is discussed by Donald Kuspit in The Spiritual in Art: Abstract Painting 1890-1985 with references to both Kadinsky and Rothko; compare with this exhibition description: "The exhibit highlights works created between 1950 and 1969, Rothko's classic period of large silent canvases which a unique contemplative quality sets apart from much of the work of his contemporaries from that period."
The Editions
JEB-ATC2003.05.01 : Wash
2003/08/12
digital image touched up due to peeling from scanner
JEB-ATC2003.05.02 : Lift
2003/08/12
[To Eliza 2003/10/19]
JEB-ATC2003.05.03 : Echo
2003/08/12
JEB-ATC2003.05.04 : Enter
2003/08/12
[To Marcella]
JEB-ATC2003.05.05 : Support
2003/08/12
JEB-ATC2003.05.06 : Remember
2003/08/12
[To Bronwyn]
JEB-ATC2003.05.07 : Invent
2003/08/12
digital image touched up due to peeling from scanner