Black iron and blue acrylic on prepared birch panel, sealed with archival varnish.
Dimensions: 48" x 24"
The peace and lightness of BLUE has me dipping my toes into color. I've used pale blues in my ceramic work for many years and love the calming depth it adds to my naturally rugged forms.
It was time to finally bring that feeling into my Black Iron Paintings.
My paintings and ceramics are based in geology and fragmented landscapes while exploring the inherent properties of the materials to connect and react to them in an emotional and natural way. The powdered black iron oxide used in my black ceramic glaze is also used to create my paintings. I mix the iron with water in a variety of dilutions from mostly water to an almost paste-like quality. I paint by pouring the iron onto wood panel that has been primed, sanded and prepped with absorbent ground.
During the process, I am responding to the shapes, horizon lines, and sedimentary lines that naturally form, much like fractals, branches of a tree, or a root structure. The painting must stay wet while I work in layers and is sprayed with varnish before an isolation coat of acrylic medium is applied. They are finished with a matte UV protectant varnish.
