Worlds Becoming I: viii Painting

Bling. Growing up Polish Catholic in Chicago, being baptized and confirmed in St. Hyacinth Basilica, I can tell you Baroque is in my blood. All that gilding within St. Hyacinth, the dome ceiling painted with swirling saints and cherubs as if by Tiepolo, all those polychromed statues, the heavily carved Confessionals, all led me to learn gilding and illuminating, first in graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Then I got a grant when I taught at NKU; the first part in Wales with Donald Jackson, calligrapher to Queen Elizabeth II and then in London with Paul Levy one of Europe’s great restoration gilders. It was a magnificent experience which alone set my studio practice onto a reverential track respecting materials and processes at the service of idea. Swarovski crystal came next: Swarovski sponsored me with a large sampling of their crystals in myriad colors that I began to use in my paintings. Real crystals are gorgeous and when you move, your eye catches the light on the facets creating a lovely feel of movement in the paintings. It becomes clear as I work on a panting if crystals should become a significant element of the finished artwork. I never begin a painting thinking, “I am going to bejewel this one.” No, over time the panting tells me if it needs the star-like blinking and shimmering quality that the crystals provide.

Painting:Acrylic on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:16 W x 12 H x 1 D in

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