"Ice" Featured Painting of the Week

Ice
Acrylic and newspaper on Canvas
30” X 40” 2009.12.16

Have I mentioned how I love living in the sun and heat of Palm Springs? Have I mentioned how I loathe cold weather? I’m a broken record, huh?

I grew up in Indiana where the summers were hot and humid, the winters cold and humid. I left Indiana when I went off to serve in the USAF during the Viet Nam “conflict.” I spent my active duty in Southeast Asia and Tucson, AZ, mostly in Southeast Asia. After four years of not seeing snow, I knew I would never return to live in it again. I made a bee line to Tucson and the U of A after my discharge and I’ve not lived in snow since.

I believe I was a lizard in a prior life. To live my life on a rock in the sun is my idea of nirvana. I came back as a resident of Palm Springs. That’s close enough for me.

Winters in Palm Spring are absolutely balmy as compared to, oh, Maine. Or Chicago. The temps drop into the frigged 60’s and I search for my mukluks. My paint splattered mukluks. . As I write this, it is a cloudy, overcast day. The thermometer continues to hover below 60 at mid day. So, now that I’ve set the stage for this painting and my state of mind, let’s talk about the featured painting for the week. Ice.

I selected this particular canvas to paint for the colorful woven field; the riot of color. I love Kohl’s Department Store for the colorful ads they have in the daily paper. It’s a great resource for my work.
There are some particularly interesting shades of blue in the weaving which drew me to a blue palette to begin.
I originally began the canvas thinking of a dark, moonless night with a blue-black sky. Damn! It was cold in my studio! I often brush water over the surface of a wet canvas to eliminate brush strokes and just because I like the randomness of the result. The result of the water-wash was intriguing. I wanted to keep it visible. I added three layers of medium with very little blue pigment of varying hue. I set the canvas aside and headed off to my warm bed.

The next morning, I visited the canvas to see how a night’s sleep affected my perception of it. Wow! I liked it! But it felt so unfinished. But I didn’t’ want to touch it. What to do? I noticed the edges of the canvas were untouched and stark white. Hate that! I painted the edges dark blue. And that was all it needed.

The painting makes me shiver and long for my mukluks. Ice. This painting is available for purchase. If you are interested or want to know more about this painting, please respond to this blog, E-mail me at JerryL@JerryLHanson.com or contact me at my studio: 760-992-3157. You can see more of my artwork for sale at www.JerryLHanson.com

Thank you!
Jerryl