As a painter I worry about falling in to a regular style of painting. What I mean is that I wish to avoid being too repetitive. I have established a pattern of application that I am comfortable using. But, it is the visual pattern of color fields that I try to be less consistent. Every once in a while I find inspiration to purposely allow myself to recreate a visual pattern across multiple attempts and completions.
The first painting “Redondo” is a 48×24 inch acrylic on a gallery canvas that l completed after returning from a trip to Southern California. I spent the first nine years of my life growing up in the South Bay Area. This was a time when my parents were still together, and despite all the fighting I was exposed to, I view that period with melancholy and longing. It was so instrumental in shaping my nature that I feel a constant pull to return. I believe a lot of this is subconsciously expressed in my paintings.
The other two paintings, “Hermosa” and “Manhattan” were completed in the couple of months after I finished “Redondo.” I really loved the cross-hatched application in “Redondo” to the extent that I was comfortable with returning to it again. I completed “Hermosa” next, which happened to be where we stayed on our recent return.
The final painting in this series is “Manhattan.” It is a 48×24 inch acrylic on gallery canvas, as well. It is the same size of “Redondo” and this is intentional. My mother was born and raised in Manhattan Beach. She would be influential in the development of my creative side. Our walls were always hung with art that she had created. After she divorced my father, we moved to Oklahoma. She started working with ceramics there and would bring me along to a place she did kiln work. She was my role model in the normalization of expressing my creativity. While recently in Manhattan Beach I scattered some of her ashes in the Pacific.
“Hermosa” is the smallest painting of this series at 40×12 inches. Hermosa Beach is represented here because this is where we stay because of its perfect location to all the surrounding places I grew up around and stayed with my father during summers. “Redondo” is similar in size to “Manhattan” because of its similar influences. My maternal grandfather had retired to Redondo Beach and he would be my baby sitter growing up. His place and my time with him would be a peaceful respite from the constant fighting I witnessed between my parents and my father’s family. I think this is why it is the brightest of the three.
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