February 19, 2010

Triangle and Curves

Triangle and Curves, 2010, egg tempera on panel, 14 x 22 inches


While working on this painting, I found myself uncertain about it; it felt like a very odd composition, with its combination of volume and flatness, red and green, and I wasn't at all sure that it would be somewhat successful in the end. But I found that as it neared completion, the painting began to satisfy me, especially after a second repainting of the green triangle. I was trying to have a textured surface on the green areas, next to the more smoothly painted reds. The jutting triangle seems to both lie on the red ground and float free of it. This work is full of metaphor, that I did not intend, as I was looking only at form, but I leave it to viewers to read into it what you prefer. I enjoy the intimation of narrative, a rich layer added to those of color, form, and design.




6 comments:

  1. this painting is so lively and quirky, the juxtaposition of in and out, the juxtaposition of colors, the use of opposites - I love studying it. it doesn't finalize into a single reading. it doesn't say what it is. if it had a secret title I think it would be: More than Meets the Eye.

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  2. Wasn't it Georgia O'Keefe who maintained that her giant flower paintings were only about flowers?
    Yours is, as you say, a very satisfying work. Does seem to operate on multiple levels of intrigue. Kudos!

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  3. Thank you both, for your generous viewing of this painting.

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  4. I can't decide if I want to stretch out on the warm sunny green spot, or curl up in between the 2 red curves.

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  5. I'm enjoying this painting--the color duality, the shapes and folds seem to still breath with movement.

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  6. Thanks, Deborah and Maggie. It makes me happy that you see warmth and life in this work.

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