"Etched In Stone"

(unavailable....6" x 6".....Experimental Piece......Water Soluble Oils on Gessobord)

"Lines etched in stone are abstract." This is a totally experimental piece based on a slab of marble. It clearly shows that God believed in abstraction because it is ever present in our created world.

Lines and their direction create shapes and sometimes the lines themselves are the focal point. There were tons of lines in this piece of marble. There was no way to include them all, but I tried to include enough to make it convincing. There are many artists who choose this element of design as the foundation to all of their work. And I must say, even though there is not a recognizable image involved, it is extremely compelling. 

Juan Iribarren is one artist who uses different sized bands of color going in many directions and often creating a grid which forms little cubicles where gestural mark making can be included. It's quite fascinating. Just google his name and you can see for yourself. 

Another artist who likes to paint abstract landscapes by reducing the imagery to slashes of color is Brian Rutenberg. He is prolific and his work is extremely compelling. 

And, of course, there is Yves Leterme (lettering artist from Belgium) who also uses gesso, line work, and some color to create small compartments with the line work and also a lot of gestural writing with a pencil. 

So if you like sketching, line work, and abstraction, these are definitely artists you might want to check out. They are all on the internet. If you like Roman lettering and line work...it is fun to incorporate angled and manipulated monoline romans into a piece that is based on abstracted line work. All in all, it is different and might open up your horizons. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.