I have a new series of abstract paintings for sale in my shop. I'm calling them Intervals, because I worked on them in short bursts over a long period of time, which is not how I usually work. They're also acrylics on canvas, which is also relatively new for me.
Around the middle of 2016, I bought a bunch of canvas. I haven't ever really been comfortable working on canvas, but it seemed like something a real, serious artist would do and I wanted to try and get into it. But then they just sat around in a corner for months.
One day in February I started scraping excess paint onto a canvas that I wanted to cover up. It turned out pretty cool, so I did it on another canvas.
Waiting for the layers on one canvas to dry was taking a while, so I started another, and another. And then I decided to put paint on all of the 5x5" canvases that I owned as a way to motivate myself to stop hoarding them and actually put them to use.
It seemed easy to start with the 5x5" canvases because they are the smallest ones I have and I had a whole stack of them - if I didn't like one it wouldn't be like I had ruined something precious and rare. Making a lot of things at a small size seemed like a good way to get started.
I worked on multiples paintings in different stages at once and added layers here and there. Sometimes I added layers to several paintings in the morning, and then come back at the end of the day and add more. Sometimes I let the paintings sit for several days without working on them at all.
In the photo above you can see various paintings at various stages. "Incandescent" is almost finished, with several more layers than it has in the previous photo. "Bewitched" is almost complete as well, but many other paintings are in the first stage, with only one solid color laid down.
Throughout this process I was always looking at color and balance, covering up areas that weren't working, and trying new things. I really took time to step back, look at a piece, and sit with it for while before making another move.
I ended up with 12 paintings that I'm really happy with and they are now available in the shop. Each one has many layers, tons of texture, and lots of tiny details. At 5x5" they are a little pop of color and look great layered with other, bigger artwork. Because of their deep profile (1.5") they stand up on their own and go perfectly on a shelf.
Thanks for your interest in my process. I hope that if you like these paintings you'll check them out in my shop. I'd love to see one end up in your home.