Joy in the Garden Print

During the last 20 years of painting with various styles of painting techniques, I was thrilled when I found my passion with Cold Wax Medium and Oil (aka CWM and Oil). This is a unique process where CWM and Oil are mixed together and they are patiently layered on a wood panel, using squeegees and brayers to add layer after layer. This is the perfect medium for me to paint an abstract, as abstracts are very similar to unraveling a mystery novel. You’re constantly exploring and turning pages (or in this case, layers). As you’re developing the painting, letting it naturally develop on its own, it slowly starts to gain energy. I believe it’s important to observe an abstract composition at 360° because you never know which direction your painting wants to go in, therefore, you must wait until it reveals its mystery to you. Now you can understand how enticing and exciting this process is! I deeply want to express how I feel about what I am painting by making every stroke expressive and meaningful. I love producing energy in motion that makes my work a breath of unique fresh air and perpetually flowing in motion. With CWM and Oil, you start layering, first with a warm color, and you let that dry and then the second layer, always using a cool color, and for the third layer, I use a warm color. Or vice versa. This process can take days for each layer to dry and for that reason it’s more time consuming but so much more satisfying, because at this point you can strip back one layer to pull out colors from the other layers as you’re developing your abstract painting. This is so much fun!! I'm able to achieve a lyrical feeling stripping back layers with squeegees and brayers. As I make fluid strokes with my squeegees and brayers, I’ll often use a transparent oil color to give even more dimension. I’ve often thought it was important to paint by intuition. It’s so vitally important to trust your intuition. By doing so you develop what’s called an Intuitive Abstract. My inspiration always comes from nature. I trust the energy I observe from nature. Nature is my solace in life, such as wind and water. I love birds in flight, I love to watch the waves skipping over the horizon, as I look over the oceans. These topics are the subjects I paint over and over with different colors and ever-changing energy. Thank you for taking the time to read my profile. These are my intimate thoughts about re-discovering and continuing exploration of my work.