Elysian Fields

After spending the last few weeks so frustrated that I even destroyed my work at one point with black paint, I have finally finished the three massive canvasses I've been painting.

Measuring 72” x 54”, they proved a challenge. When canvasses are so big, you can't fill every little gap with “information” or it becomes overwhelming. You need to leave space with just a hint of colour or a bit of texture.

Because of their daunting size, I didn't feel like just applying a brush to the canvas was enough for these paintings, so I used three techniques:

*Brush
*Palette Knife
*Drips

I was particularly drawn to the dripping of paint as it is a technique that allows the whole body to become involved in the piece in a sort of vehement emotional enthusiasm. I thought about abstract expressionists like Jackson Pollock who are famous for employing physical movement in the creation of paintings. Emotional energy inevitably shines through the end result.

As a whole, these paintings appear calming at first glance, but there is something disruptive in them, something slightly menacing. It comes out especially in the black streaks of the second painting in the triptage. These streaks fly sideways across the sky in this landscape. They soar like a fleeting moment of pain across the pale background, like dark scars in the canvas.

I found myself thinking of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and how the pretty garden was a bit foreboding.

Another painting is darker on one side than the other, representing the yin and the yang, the good and the bad, disruption and nirvana, because that's what life is all about. I don't believe you ever get something for nothing. There are always consequences. For every beautiful and bountiful thing, there is a price.

My own personal experience is a prime example. I have been a horrible picture of health lately and I feel the pain in my body when I paint. But I will never stop because it is my passion. I suffer through the torment to taste the beauty that I can experience as an artist. These are not just pretty pictures; they are saturated with the drama of life.

I was thinking about all of these things as I worked. There was a sense of walking through a place, a meadow perhaps, and at the end, there was something very... fine. It was a utopia of sorts, a welcoming place full of light. It was Elysian.

So, I've decided to name this series “Elysian Fields.”

And one thing is for sure: even if you don't like the paintings, there is no way you can ignore them.

(All of these photos were taken on my mobile phone just as examples while I wait to have them professionally photographed for out catalogue.)