DRYAD

DRYAD, encaustic, mixed media, 2014

This painting is one of the largest encaustics I have ever worked on. It measures 4x5 feet. In 2010 it was a painting of Medusa based on Bernini's sculpture of the subject. (The locks of hair were once green snakes.) After looking at it for a while I decided to paint over the piece and morph it into something else. It never quite came together as a Medusa. What I love about encaustics is that you can  rework an old painting into something new with ease. All the previous layers just give the painting added depth and texture. Many of my paintings have hidden paintings underneath.

It will be displayed at Pech Merle Winery in Geyserville, CA through February, 2015. Drop by!

More Experiments with Abstraction from Big Sur

View from Esalen at Big Sur

It has been a rough semester so I haven't been able to paint since the week in September I spent at Esalen in Big Sur. As I was driving down the coast to do something life affirming, a friend was driving up the coast and off a cliff ending his life. I didn't find out about it until a day later. That week it was painting that kept me together.

Esalen is such a magical place. While I spent most of my hours painting I had many interesting, deep conversations with people from all over the world in the early morning and late at night. Something about Big Sur lends itself to deep reflection.

My goal when I left was to experiment with mark making the way we all do as children. I told myself that I would only make non-representational marks and nothing figurative. I just played without judging and felt free. In the next few weeks I hope to take what I learned from that week and apply it to my encaustic work.