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Saturday, February 13, 2010

Joy to the World

This is actually a painting I finished before I moved but never posted, although it has been on my website. This is the second painting experimenting with the idea of the ribbons being held in a transparent container.

Most of my paintings deal with ideas about exteriors we can see versus interiors we can't. Thinking about ways to really dig deep and explore this core idea, a friend of mine suggested addressing directly my fears. For reasons unknown to me, the first idea that popped in my head was to make the container transparent, and without thinking more about it, I put a bow in a glass and painted Cordial. Then I revisited the idea with this painting. I didn't know what to say about it at the time, still unsure about this idea, so I packed it up and sort of forgot about it with the move.

Well I recently unpacked it, and Wow.... I could see that first layer of meaning! At least enough to know that I definitely want to pursue this idea a bit more. Pretty cool.

The painting is a bit larger (14x18) than most I post, so I thought I would show a couple of cropped shots. You can view a larger photo of the painting here on my website. I adore how all the colors melt together, and love this glowing interior space.
I particularly enjoyed using thick blobs of paint for the transparent surface, and love the distortions of the ribbons as they press against the inside. Seeing this spot below with fresh eyes actually caused me to go back and rework Cordial, which you can see here.

6 comments:

Things That Inspire said...

Beautiful! Yellow seems to be calling your name these days. Maybe it is in response to a cold and gray winter.

Karen Appleton said...

Thank you Things That Inspire! Actually, this was painted in August-September right before I started the moving process. I definitely went through a yellow spell last year, you are right!! Thanks for commenting!

-Don said...

This is spectacular! And, what a clever idea.

I get lost in your use of color... Gorgeous.

-Don

Karen Appleton said...

Thank you so much Don, and thanks for commenting so I could discover your blog and work as well. I am very intrigued with your use of masks in your work, as I am a fan of concealment myself :)
Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Liza Hirst said...

Wow! A wonderful painting, Karen - I also love the glow in the inide - I love the whole painting - you are such a very good painter!

Amanda Lovett said...

I just love your work, but you know that!!! I don't get here enough to tell you how much I enjoy your work, so I've given you the "Sunshine Award." If you want to accept it, instructions are on my blog. :)