I’ve got a solo show coming up oh-so-soon (the month of February and to be exact the show is at Rancho Linda Vista Gallery in Oracle AZ, reception February 10th, 1pm-5pm). Having plenty of new paintings for the show isn’t a problem. What to put in/not put in the exhibit is what’s been on my mind. In the official art world (if there is such a thing anymore), artists are supposed to develop a style and a voice that is cohesive. The kiss of death for a show is that it’s uneven in quality or doesn’t make sense as a whole.
I work in several series (water, flowers, architectural details and abstractions). For my show I’ve decided to include three of the series, water, flowers and abstractions. This is making me nervous (see above) and while I’m told that they all work well together, I’m just not sure. None-the-less, I feel compelled to put them all into this exhibition. In order to seal the deal I had my friend and designer extraordinaire Patricia Sahertian create a postcard showing all three series. So now I’m committed.
The abstract paintings are brand new to me. I’ve tried creating abstractions before without success. Now all of a sudden I’ve developed a series of these small abstract paintings over the last 5 months. This didn’t just happen out of the blue. After a helpful consultation with Barbara Rogers, Tucson artist and Art Professor Emeritus at University of Arizona, I followed her helpful suggestions—one of which was to look at, photograph and paint interesting details from buildings in and around Tucson.
I did the treasure hunt part of the exercise which was great fun thanks to the help of my younger son Mathew, who found the open houses and accompanied me on our quest for architectural details.
Launching into painting on three-10″x10″ wood panels, I had just painted the first basic shapes when husband James Cowlin came into my studio. STOP! he said. What do you mean? I said. Then I took a look at what I had done and realized that I could just possibly quit while I was ahead…and end up with abstract paintings. And thus a new series was born.
Several of these paintings have ended up in juried shows in the Phoenix area. And I’ve sold several. So the series has been launched.
Below are a few & if interested you can see more in my brand new gallery on my website (just click on galleries in the bar above).
Acrylic on panel, 10×10, 2017
Askew #10, Acrylic on panel, 10×10
Featured image: Askew #13, Acrylic on panel, 2018