Between Moments

It is not always easy for us to distinguish between a moment of dying and a moment of new birth. -Alan Jones


Between Moments
encaustic mixed media
8×8 inches
available for purchase

Most of my paintings I would say have a very tranquil feel to them. Part of it is the palette- earthy tones with many variations of white. Part of it is probably the subject matter-whether it’s my nature inspired pieces or my bowls, there’s a meditative quality to them. The interesting thing is that that is not how my paintings start out. At all. People who have taken my workshops or who I’ve painted with are always surprised by the bright colors that I start out with. I also do a lot of mark making, scribbles, etc. onto the surface. And then….I cover it up. I feel that while the original marks and colors aren’t obvious in the final painting, they contribute to the overall richness of the surface and gives the painting depth. And perhaps it reflects something deeper about life and the mysterious around us. I could definitely go with that.

But there are times when I am reluctant to cover all the colors and markings up. And lately I want to explore that reluctance. But the only way I can resist doing the big cover up is to do my markings on paper, either through encaustic monotype prints like I did with this painting. In the case of this painting, a lot of the colors and marks come from a a piece of lokta paper that I marked up many months ago with various inks.

In my studio right now I am particularly excited about bringing different elements into my paintings. I have also been doing a lot of stitching at night on the couch in front of the fire lately. Not sure what I’ll be doing with all the little squares I’m making, but I am sure that they will somehow show up in a painting down the road.

I've been doing a lot of stitching and doodling with thread at night while obsessively watching that show "The Killing" on Netlix streaming. Not sure what I'll be doing with these little squares yet.

8 Comments

  1. Oh Bridgette! There is something about this piece that moves me deeply. To tears really. It matches my idea of a death that is also a birth so completely…Wow!

  2. Wow- I must agree with Tina that there is something very moving about this piece, I also agree with you about the layers of color underneath enriching an entire piece; I think that is so evident with the piece in your last post. Stunning work, both of them.

    1. Thanks Sharmon. I do love working in layers. It helps too with the initial laying down of paint—takes away any stage fright as it will just be another layer if things don’t quite work out!

  3. I love the secret layers beneath – it’s like the rings in a tree — if you cut a tree, the rings tell about it’s growth. That’s what I think your layers do — if we scraped, we could see the piece develop. There’s something so magical about knowing those layers are there.
    And I can’t wait to see how your fabric weaves it’s way into your work.

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