The Given Solution Painting by Mike Biskup

Painting: Watercolor on Paper.

This painting was created by masking shapes, which are cut on the paper, leaving tiny slice marks...Then washing watercolor paint over the tape. Finally removing all tape and repeating this process a second time.

Slice marks in the piece are akin to wounds in individuals or groups of people. I hope a message of reconciliation is, at least on occasion garnered from this piece. As a "Bringer of Visions" I'm sure each person will see the meaning or feeling for themselves. - - Mike

The top photo shows the piece in nice bright light... I left the others a little dark to capture all the nuance in the colors. Watercolor in bright light can shift, so I like to show things in a variety of lighting levels.

I sometimes work on rough paper - this can lighten the stress of "messing up" a perfectly clean piece of paper. I am a perfectly flawed human like everyone else I know and this proves it! :)

In my paintings, everything flows together. Colors, lines and shapes - people places and things are woven into one harmonious, functional system. I want to subtly remind viewers that we humans, in all our diversity, are essentially interconnected, and with thoughtfulness, can function together harmoniously as well.

On the surface, my paintings are simply places I’d love to visit - mysterious, primarily benevolent, colorful worlds where everything “works”. On a deeper level, they are an exploration of what Buddhist Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh has called ‘Interbeing’. “If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either.” - TNH.

When I work, I turn on some music, sit down with a blank sheet of paper and choose whether to begin with black ink, watercolor paint, or recently masking tape. I work quickly. I leave my thinking mind out of it. (Sometimes I need to push my thinking mind out of the driver's seat!) I rely on improvisation and a stream of consciousness approach to let my life's experiences bubble up and flow into my work. Anything I've seen or experienced through the years may come forward. However it comes is fine with me; I relish the surprise. After each layer of paint, ink or masking tape, I stand back. I watch. I wait. Sometimes I wait days, weeks, or even years to add another layer. This process of painting and contemplation is always happening in my studio with many different pieces in many stages of completion.