As a painter, I primarily use acrylic paints. I express my subjects through a minimalist approach, utilizing color, line, texture, and shape to evoke the desired emotional response and convey my interpretation of the subject.
This individual experience brings me the most joy. Inspiration often starts with a subject already in mind or is gathered from various sources, such as personal experiences, reading, music, or discussions. I typically use brushes on canvas when I paint, sometimes beginning with minimal preliminary drawings.
Over time, I have found that my painting process has become slower. I sometimes change my mind midway through the work, leading me to overpaint or scrub the paint out entirely. This can alter the texture of the canvas, allowing the underpainting to reappear, which is not always my intent. To address this, I discovered that using colored paper to cut out shapes quickly, I could select the colors I wanted and arrange them on a board. This allows me to experiment with different compositions, re-cut, and start over until satisfied.
This revelation freed me to move more quickly with the ideas I wanted to express and to experiment more freely. I have been reading about scientific concepts and have wanted to visually express these ideas, which have become the focus of many of my recent paintings. Once I complete the ‘study’ using cut paper, I transition to creating an acrylic version as my final artwork. I also discovered that the paper cutouts are visually appealing and can stand alone as independent works of art. This exciting process enables me to work through my ideas more rapidly and produce more artwork.
