WORKING LARGE - 30X40 TO 48X60"

Two years ago a gallery responded to my submissions saying they liked the work, but did not carry artwork under glass (I submitted a CD of my pastels). That, along with my growing problem with framing costs, was enough to make me do what I had been talking about doing for years...begin working on canvas with acrylics and oil.

I started with acrylics, thinking I could do with them what I was doing with the soft pastels, but soon found out that was not the case. I was working on panels and canvases, 24x24 and smaller and as I gained some facility with the new medium found a process that felt comfortable. Here is one of the early pieces.


Stormy Sky canvas 18x22

Soon I felt the itch to work larger, 30x40, 24x48, and eventually 48x60. It was with my first attempt that I learned that working larger required a looser and more intuitive approach, and I began using the palette knife more than the brush. My landscapes became bolder, more colorful, and incorporated abstract to semiabstract elements.


Dark Forest 30x40 the first large canvas


Somewhere Else, the first 48x60" canvas

I now work in all sizes, from 5x5” to 48x60 (the largest my studio can accommodate) and am enjoying the freedom to explore a wide variety of techniques, depending on the goal of the painting. The smaller work is generally tighter and more literal than the larger pieces.