4/15/22 watercolor/collage, which i framed yesterday and will be included in my I FLY exhibition.
a crestone conglomerate rock outside my studio
8:19 am: yesterday afternoon i took a walk around my studio, just to get a little fresh air, and photographed this crestone conglomerate rock. these rocks, which are everywhere in our landscape they are the result of “are a good indication of what the landscape looked like 200-300 million years ago when they were formed…..but it contains much older rocks.”
so as we walk the rails or even go shopping in town, we are constantly reminded of where we came from.
yesterday afternoon, after my little walk, i framed 4/15/2022 watercolor/collage, one of the approximately 12 watercolor/collages that will be hung in my upcoming exhibition, opening this coming friday at space gallery in denver.
BELOW is my artist statement, which is being emailed out by the gallery.
After watching the closing celebration following the 2020 Tokyo Olympics I could barely contain my feelings. I felt like I could fly! These paintings are inspired by the beautifully costumed figures in that celebration. They are dancing, jumping, singing; they look like they are flying, or about to.
Around that time, I had a very challenging health scare. When I learned that my sight would be saved through the ground breaking surgery performed by Dr. Seibold, once again I felt like I could fly! Thus the title: I FLY, with the subtitle in Greek: PETAOW. As a gesture of gratitude, this exhibition is a benefit, with a large portion of sales going to the University of Colorado Dept of Ophthalmology, where it will support research.
My mentor, when I lived in Greece, once said to me, "All good or great painting is abstract." It has taken me decades to integrate that comment. These paintings reflect an important stage in that process.
This new work integrates a number of directions and styles I've experimented with over time. Abstraction and realism join, and elements of collage disrupt predictability, allowing the viewer to create their own interpretation of each composition, and return again and again to a new experience.
Mark making has been going on as far back as we know; on rocks, cave walls, paper, canvas....children are arguably best at it. Unencumbered by belief systems, they simply follow their spirit and move their arms and hands accordingly. Every time I enter my studio, I remember this.