My current area of exploration is inspired by seemingly insignificant visual observations made in my studio environment and on neighborhood walks – insignificant but (to me at least) visually arresting: left-over loops of thread lying randomly about; a crisp white line in a dark gray rock; stitching patterns in fabric; blades of grasses shooting out of a crack in a concrete sidewalk; a white chalk line on a slate blackboard; the play of light-on-metal in a box of freshly opened x-acto blades.
In each case, I am attracted by the interaction of line and plane, softness and hardness, of regular against irregular, of the organic against the inorganic. This interaction of opposites intrinsically occurs in the way I approach the encaustic medium – my tools are a sharp steel blade and a soft plane of wax. I engage the one with the other in a methodical, meditative and rhythmic manner. I like to work in complete silence with the studio lights off - only low afternoon natural light was used in the creation of this series, both for the stillness it creates and because it helps to reveal the subtle lines and marks as I work the surface with my blade. It calms me and takes me away from the frenetic and chaotic climate of our present world.
Sidewalk outside my front door Studio door stop Fresh X-Actos
Threadline Series