California Dreaming #4 Painting

Oil based ink on Arches archival rag (22.25 x 15). Inspired by the California and its desert. I love to experiment with new techniques to create a wide range of imagery, figurative and abstract, aiming to represent my take on nature’s colors, form and movement. Memories of places I visited around the world determine the depictions of landscapes and other abstract themes.  I’m currently focusing on monotype printmaking, a process characterized by spontaneity, which allows me to be unselfconscious and unconstrained. The paint captures the stroke’s dance across the canvas, telling a story that is then interpreted through the viewer’s lens. I work on a smooth, non-absorbent surface, made out of aluminum. A subtractive image is created by inking the surface of the metal plate with oil based etching inks and then shaping the ink with rugs, brushes, scrapers or squeegees. The image is transferred onto a sheet of paper using a printing press, destroying the original artwork and creating one single print. Hence the name Monotype. The personal nature of the monotype suited experimental artists from Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, to Pablo Picasso. These artists used the monotype process in unorthodox ways. Their artworks inspire my own.