Why the Bright Colors?

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked that in the last 12 months, I could probably fly somewhere pretty nice for the weekend. It’s one of those questions that I never have a decent and coherent answer to, and in the spirit of self-betterment, I thought it was time to hold myself accountable.

All of the following are true. Some are true more days than others. 

Phase 1 of Open to Change. See the final painting here.

1. Having a neatly primed white canvas makes me nervous.

(Having much of anything neat makes me nervous tbh.) Nervous is not how you want to be when you dive into a new piece, or at least it’s not how I want to be. Pouring down large splotches of bright color makes me breathe a bit deeper. There’s no going back.

Phase 1 of Please Explain the Spillway. See the final painting here.

2. Sandy Chism.

Sandy Chism taught me to paint at Tulane University in the late 90’s. RIP Sandy. She was the best – tall, kind, patient, and a brilliant painter. She loved her dog Lucky and she had the best laugh. She also smoked cigarettes in her office because it was the late 90’s. Anyway, whenever we prepped before a figurative painting session, she had us lay down complementary colors in order to get undertones – so greens and blues underneath warmer skin tones. This stuck with me. If I know I’m painting a landscape, I typically lay in complementary colors first. So oranges behind a blue sky or reds/pink into a green expanse.

Phase 2 of Reflection. See the final painting here.

3. I’m actively and unapologetically embracing the positive side of my Southern roots.

It dawned on me being in Iowa, and working in a design college, that I’m around varying shades of gray much of the time, particularly this time of year. Why do we sometimes associate sophistication with a lack of color? I adore going home and seeing folks in bold patterns, big earrings and hair, COLOR. That breathing-a-bit-easier-thing.

Phase 1 of What Is the Absolute Right Thing to Do? See the final painting here.

4. It’s what’s brewing underneath.

Let’s pull it back to painting for a sec. In this respect, vibrant color can also represent what’s hidden beneath the surface of a community.

Phase 3 of Hangman’s Army. See the final painting here.

5. I am contrarian by nature. (see reason 3)

I had a professor in grad school declare my work at one point to be straight from the tube. In you haven’t spent time in an MFA painting program, then you wouldn’t happen to know that is the worst, most condescending thing you can say to a painter. I.e. I’m not sophisticated enough to know how to mix paint. I might as well be painting by number. I may as well tattoo HACK on my forehead. So I start all my paintings straight from the tube, and let that stuff shine through. :)

Phase 1 of Be.The.Change. See the final painting here.

P.S. Enjoy poring over the creative process? Check out Evolution of a Painting, Vol. 1, Evolution of a Painting, Vol. 2, and Evolution of a Painting, Vol. 3.