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CRITICAL THEORY

Artist statement: It seems magical to me how a person can produce sounds, images, odors, tastes, and touch, and another person can perceive it and grasp even some of what the maker had in mind in creating it. I am fascinated by what's occurring in the moment when an experience transforms into thought. My work explores this by creating paintings that are first interesting to look at, but not easily described in concepts or storylines.  Sometimes the words in my paintings are prominent and sometimes they are not. The words can also be orders to do, or not to do, something. At other times the words appear to be a comment, or what is needed to complete the painting. The words are more than ideas and can be like objects in a still life. The best advice I can give a viewer is to relax. Give yourself some space, take a breath and let the relentless stream of thoughts slow down enough (they will never stop) to perceive gaps that naturally occur in mind. It is though these gaps that your own experience arises, takes shape, can be seen, and felt. In this way we are studying not only the artwork, but how we perceive.

A Word about my *Giclees: Some years ago, I was inspired to reach a larger audience with multiples of my watercolor paintings. I felt with the right combination of materials, tools, methods, and advanced technology (more advanced than what was available at the time), I could create professional level artwork that could be enjoyed for a modest price. In other words, use analogue materials, traditional artist's materials, such as watercolors, watercolor paper, and watercolor brushes, to create the painting and then digitally reproduce the original. It took some years for the digital world with its computer processing and software to reach a level where nearly anything you can imagine, 2D wise, could be created, or reproduced. What makes my methodology slightly unique is the journey from this point on. It was time to acquire what is generally referred to as a "wide format printer" with at least 6, ideally 8 or more color ink cartridges' and where the colors are pigments and not dyes. And those pigments are highly rated for their lightfastness (permanence).  The paper I prefer to use or watercolor is manufactured, by Arches, in France who has been making artist's paper since 1492. Arches, had recently created a digital version of its famous watercolor papers. Everything about this paper exactly the same, as the original, except its coated to allow the use of digital print inks and not "wick": bleed. I was now in a position to make what is today called Giclée prints. What then occurred was the most difficult part. It was getting all the technology to play well with one another in order to match the colors. I eventually succeeded.

 Definition: *gi·clée

/ZHēˈklā/ noun

  •  A technology for fine art or photograph reproduction using a high-quality inkjet printer to make individual copies. "giclée is the only printing technique that captures the essence of my watercolors"

  • 65 percent of galleries. use a giclee print process.

Definitions and quotes taken from Oxford Languages.

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