21-103a Blue lines 5x5 Print

Here, the square on the piece of paper measures approximately 6.25”. The color is peacock, or you might call it teal (i.e., one of those blue-gray-green colors named after a bird). This watercolor is very energetic though it’s confined to the page and despite the rules I’ve imposed by the grid format and the painting process. Blue grids and lines: Working with some of the square grids from earlier dot paintings, for this series I used lines using a blue ink and watercolor mixture going in different directions instead of dots. As with the earlier paintings, the smaller squares are painted from one dip in this mixture. Two interesting visual phenomena occur: the pieces appear to be woven, and secondly, a shimmery pattern is created by the diminishing ink used to make the small squares. This effect varies from piece to piece, depending mostly on the shade and intensity of the blue. Viewed up close, the watery ink-watercolor displays a wide variety. All of the marks are different, the pieces are clearly handmade. Similarly, there is a tension between the uniform squares and the blue lines. My technique is clear; while I’m trying to create squares that are visually related, attempts to be neat and visually organized only partially succeed, thus, the handmade aesthetic.