Bathing Beauty Series
A MUSE MEANT
Artists glean inspiration from so many sources. Sometimes it is a vintage photo, or maybe the colors on a can of chili. This mixed media piece is a nod to the muse, wherever she may reside. (36" x 24") $425
Artists glean inspiration from so many sources. Sometimes it is a vintage photo, or maybe the colors on a can of chili. This mixed media piece is a nod to the muse, wherever she may reside. (36" x 24") $425
SELF REFLECTION
With this mixed media piece, I tried to combine and contrast a highly abstracted background with a graphic foreground. I'm not even sure how this series began. Abstracted landscapes as backgrounds. Vintage swimsuit adverts. British mystery novels. Dots. Painterly reflections... This one is tentatively titled, "Self Reflection." I was playing with the idea of fashion and how we are usually only comfortable when dressed in the fashion of our peers. I especially like the dreamy, watery quality of the top portion and the way it contrasts with the graphic part below. And the dots. Always the dots...(24" x 36") $425
With this mixed media piece, I tried to combine and contrast a highly abstracted background with a graphic foreground. I'm not even sure how this series began. Abstracted landscapes as backgrounds. Vintage swimsuit adverts. British mystery novels. Dots. Painterly reflections... This one is tentatively titled, "Self Reflection." I was playing with the idea of fashion and how we are usually only comfortable when dressed in the fashion of our peers. I especially like the dreamy, watery quality of the top portion and the way it contrasts with the graphic part below. And the dots. Always the dots...(24" x 36") $425
POLKA DOTS
Polka dots symbolize routine and monotony. Note how the four heads of the women are in the position of polka dots? But by swimming to the side the repetitive pattern, the women are daring to break out of their structured existence. Note also that none of the women is looking directly at the others in her group. (24" x 36") $425
Polka dots symbolize routine and monotony. Note how the four heads of the women are in the position of polka dots? But by swimming to the side the repetitive pattern, the women are daring to break out of their structured existence. Note also that none of the women is looking directly at the others in her group. (24" x 36") $425
GOLD OR DROSS?
This mixed media piece considers those things, such as religious icons, physical beauty, fashion, and entertainment, and how they impact our relationships with nature, especially when we try to “get back to nature” in an attempt at relaxation and communion. So are these bathing beauties dangling more or less whole bodied from the sky, or are they lounging in the surf? Note the religious artifact and the Frisbee, which are emerging from the sand as though the ladies are on the edge of an archeological dig site. Some paintings seem to have this sort of timeliness to them, as they take a vintage look at the not so recent past as seen through the lens of Pop Culture. When an image is inverted like this, it traditionally turns the meaning of the element upside down, while also creating a sense of unease in the viewer. In this case, instead of reaching for the sky, or spiritual enlightenment, as they would be if the painting were flipped, the sunbathers are searching for a stable base, perhaps even for the treasures at hand, while their corporeal selves are literally evaporating into thin air. Note the way the printed leaf image on the fan, a stylized image from nature, forms the aura behind the icon’s head, and how the Frisbee seems to be a cast off nimbus from the subject on the far left. The figure is turned slightly away from the others and the subject has a firm grip on her own fan, which is a sort of blank canvas. Is this then a message that one is perhaps more likely to be saved by interaction with nature than by participating at the social level in humanly contrived activities?
This mixed media piece considers those things, such as religious icons, physical beauty, fashion, and entertainment, and how they impact our relationships with nature, especially when we try to “get back to nature” in an attempt at relaxation and communion. So are these bathing beauties dangling more or less whole bodied from the sky, or are they lounging in the surf? Note the religious artifact and the Frisbee, which are emerging from the sand as though the ladies are on the edge of an archeological dig site. Some paintings seem to have this sort of timeliness to them, as they take a vintage look at the not so recent past as seen through the lens of Pop Culture. When an image is inverted like this, it traditionally turns the meaning of the element upside down, while also creating a sense of unease in the viewer. In this case, instead of reaching for the sky, or spiritual enlightenment, as they would be if the painting were flipped, the sunbathers are searching for a stable base, perhaps even for the treasures at hand, while their corporeal selves are literally evaporating into thin air. Note the way the printed leaf image on the fan, a stylized image from nature, forms the aura behind the icon’s head, and how the Frisbee seems to be a cast off nimbus from the subject on the far left. The figure is turned slightly away from the others and the subject has a firm grip on her own fan, which is a sort of blank canvas. Is this then a message that one is perhaps more likely to be saved by interaction with nature than by participating at the social level in humanly contrived activities?