Using what is available is an intoxicating and exciting part of the creative process – it becomes a game and adds to the enjoyment of putting together all the puzzle(ing) pieces of a work. My studio contains a range of artist quality materials to children’s nontoxic supplies, everyday items, discard-able~objects and recyclable materials. I enjoy the archival idea of preservation and standing the test of time, but I also love the freedom of impermanence mirrored in children’s art supplies.
Artist grade materials offer that safe feeling of trust, predictability and quality and the lower quality (for example: student grade, recycled and everyday materials) can be less stable, unpredictable, and will decompose and fade with time. Layering and balancing predictable with the unpredictable media offers a unique opportunity for a work to continue to live on and evolve even when the artist has finished. The work is free to live out the rest of its life so to speak, continuing to reveal its layers over time. The work is still moving, evolving, breathing - it’s still in relationship with the elements, as the elements work with the painting, assisting it in its transformation. I think this is really rich and exciting. I am in love with the process.
