Deep Water
11×14″
Acrylic , paper and cheesecloth on cradled panel
© 2014 Lucinda Howe
$500
www.LucindaHowe.com

This painting is a part of a series where each painting begins with a white line.  Working in a series allows me to take a concept in several directions, to experiment with techniques and to see the effect of small changes.  White represents both beginning and end.  In some cultures, it represents joy and purity and in cultures, death and bereavement.  Beginning with white allows the painting to develop in many ways.  Sometimes it evolves into an abstract landscape and sometimes it evokes emotion through color and texture.

An 11×14” cradled masonite panel provides a solid support for this mixed media piece.  A white line 1/4 of the way up from bottom forms a low horizon.  Below the horizon is a smooth dark blue gray.  The lower edge of the line is blurred while the upper edge is a more defined.  Above the horizon line a rough surface is formed by a gauze-like fabric. Poured and dripped paint moves though the fabric.   Colors are dark blue gray of deep water, light blue greens of the winter sky, and  warm yellow ochre of earth and lingering autumn leaves.    The effect brings to mind pale sunlight flickering through a tangle trees and vines above a cold lake on a quiet winter day.

The piece invites you to contemplate the depth of calm that lies below the busy-ness of the everyday world.