Thursday, January 25, 2018

Art That Makes an Impact

There are pieces of art that just get stuck in your mind. The artwork is just so beautiful, so unusual, and makes such a statement that you cannot forget it, nor do you want to. When I first saw the work of Northwest artist Mary Carlton, I almost crumbled in admiration.




She was primarily a collage artist who is best known for her figures and landscapes. When I first began to use Pinterest, I put quite a bit of her work on one of my boards. Of all the art I have on my various Pinterest boards, this figure to the right is the image that is most often loved and saved to someone else's board. I see this as a tribute to the power of this artist and her work. Unfortunately, she died in 2013, so there are no more pieces to come from this wonderful artist.




















I do not mean to compare my work to hers, but I am including my own piece, Caribbean Cornrows I which is also primarily a collaged piece with handmade patterns as well. I had attempted to paint this scene from a photo I took in Roatan, Honduras several times. I was unsuccessful until I started ripping paper from less successful paintings to create the painting below.


I had so much fun creating the collaged piece, I gave myself the challenge of painting a second version in transparent watercolor (image below). Playing with patterns using both collage and hand made patterns has long interested me as an artist. And I find a pattern often gives a painting a bit of that unique and interesting element I so admire in Mary Carlton's work.



If you are also interested in patterns, I will be teaching a workshop in Newport, Oregon, March 3, 4, and 5, 2018.






1 comment:

Ruth Armitage said...

I am a huge fan of Mary Carlton’s work too - and I definitely see the influence in your beautiful paintings!