Harmony in Chaos

Things are moving along here at the studio. This past year, I started selling some art on Facebook marketplace just to dip my toes in the water. It’s been encouraging to me, not because I’m making money. It’s more a confirmation of yes! someone really does want to buy my art. I also have (finally) set up my shop and confirmed it’s working, so the next step is to start adding products. Here’s a sample of what’s already available. I’m calling this series: Harmony in Chaos.

I love making these digital brushstroke collages. It is maybe my favorite type of art to make. It combines the physicality of painting in gestural strokes with the challenges of limitless digital transformations. I like the option to work either way. Do I feel like mucking around in paint today? I go for it. Do I feel like hiding in a cozy corner with my device? (Or too many distractions around the house!) Both options get me where I need to be with the work. 

As always I keep in mind this quote of my favorite (digital) painter, Petra Cortright: 

“I’ve tried regular painting before – it’s the slowest, dumbest thing on the planet. You can’t undo, you can’t copy and paste, I don’t have the patience for it. The whole waiting for paint to dry thing just doesn’t work for me.”

With my process I don’t really have to wait for paint to dry, and that suits me. I make lots of brushstrokes and then photograph them. Sometimes I make them on plastic or glass, and wipe them clean. Sometimes I use a sheet of paper. Either way, it’s all throw away stuff. The real magic happens when I start layering and chopping up the jpegs; and start messing around with transparencies. 

So I put a couple of these on the Marketplace and I was astonished that people wanted to buy them. The sales aren’t gangbuster, but it tells me someone could be scrolling, see my work and say, Yes. I would like that on a wall. So I guess that’s really all it takes sometimes. Could it be that simple?