Saturday, April 19, 2014

Color

I think one of the reasons I felt so swept away by India is the color. I remember landing in New Delhi when I was 19 years old. As I walked into the terminal I looked up to see a crowd of the most colorful people I'd ever seen--many wearing turbans of purple and saffron yellow, women in saris the color of rubies or sapphires or emeralds, the parts of their hair adorned with bright red powder. I could go on and on about how India overloads all the senses, but I'll just stop here and say that my love of color is closely connected to my love of folk art. And that's how I feel I can describe my own art. Sort of naive and colorful, with lots of animals and plants and such.

I just discovered this woman's art, and I am spellbound. Her name is Anna Silvionchik and she is from Belarus.

I love this painting. She works in oils, so she can get great depth in her work. I have used water-soluble oils but I'm sure they're just not the same. My mother worked in oils. I am a very impatient person so I don't know how I would do with something that takes weeks to dry. I would also need to have my studio cat-free. Oil and water don't mix; neither do oil and cats.

Here is another one of my paintings on gessoed muslin; I incorporated this into fiber art, recycling some fabrics from India.

I might fix where it tugs a bit, if I can. 

2 comments:

Jan said...

You and I share a love of color and folk art. Check out this artist on flicker: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kimikahara
Your art is certainly full of folksy themes and dense color and fun. I love that you are reusing old canvas that you were unsatisfied with. I'm sure the masters did the same.
A friend recently sent me an oil painting she created of one of my ghost dogs. She adds something to the oils that makes them dry quickly. I'll have to find out what it is and tell you. She finished my painting only a couple of days before she packaged it up to send to me. I'll blog about it later.

Martha Bright said...

Love her stuff! So happy and lighthearted. I bet she's a fun person to know. I can see the Japanese in it too--elements of the Kawaii style in there.

I have used water-based oils and they do dry quickly. I'll have to post the one I did. My mom loved oils.