Orange Figure

Arching Splendor, oil on canvas, 20"  x 20", 2002    

Dancing Color, oil on canvas, 20"  x 20", 2002

In 2002 I did a series of plein air paintings on the river at Smith College.  "Arching Splendor" and "Dancing Color", were two of the pieces that I made from life during this time period.  Some of the shapes that I saw in nature when I made these works have found their way into my works for years and years after the initial pieces were made.  For example, the orange figure in the upper left corner of "Arching Splendor" has appeared over and over again.  It changes shape, but I consider it the same form, just transformed over the years.  I had no idea when I made these early paintings that they would be so influential on my career as an artist.

Fall Glow II, oil on canvas, 54" x 50", 2002

October Double Dutch, oil on canvas, 54" x 50", 2003

Spring Double Dutch II, oil on canvas, 54" x 50", 2004

Spring Union II, oil on canvas, 54" x 50", 2004

Intimate Performance, oil on canvas, 54" x 50", 2005

Lovers Arch, oil on canvas, 42" x 39", 2005

Trickle Down, oil on linen, 42" x 39", 2006

Fall Dreaming Space, oil on canvas, 42" x 39", 2006

Ethereal Transition II, oil on canvas, 20" x 60", 2008

Splendor II, oil on canvas, 34" x 72", 2008

New Process

How my process has changed over the last couple of years....

In the Fall of 2008 I started looking for new ways of working that would add surprises for me in the process of making my work. I created a series of monotypes on rice paper that were already attached to a board. (A monotype is made by painting an image on a piece of plexiglass and then transferring the image with either a press or brayer.  In my case I stood on the back of the plexi to transfer the image.)  By attaching the paper to the board before printing, my image only transfered in blotches at a time instead the entire image transferring (as a normal monotype would). By working in this way, I was forced to make more layers than I normally would in order to build up the image. Happy accidents happened along the way and a new way of working was born.  For example, the paint would often make blotches where I hadn't intended a blotch to appear and I had to deal with the "mistake" as I went.  Either incorporating the blotch or covering it up with the next layer.

I was very happy with these works and the fluidity that they offered me. When I tried to start working on canvas again, it was difficult to get the same level of surprise in the process.  So I tried pouring the paint on, wiping with rags, and dumping turpentine on the piece as Iworked. This process was very different from how I worked in the past, as I always worked with very solid and defined shapes. I found myself resisting the urge to "clean up" the image as I am usually very controlled about the way the shapes evolve in a work.

As time as gone on in my studio the process has become more involved, as I now also have added brayers to the process. I start by pouring on the paint and wiping to find shapes. Then I build up the surface with a palette knife and brayers (a roller).

I also sand the surface if it gets too heavy as I want the piece to stay light and luminous.

Throughout the process, I am keeping in mind the subject that I am trying to capture. Through use of color and line I attempt to depict not just images or scenes of nature but rather evoke feelings and emotion of a place. I want you the viewer to feel the color with your hands, breathe in the rich vividness. Journey slowly, letting the leaves brush against your body, notice the fragrance of purple flowers underfoot. Revel in the freshness of spring and celebrate the crispness of autumn. I want to speak to that child in the viewer, and help them recapture a sense of the mystery, anxiousness, excitement and magic felt when outdoors.


Images in this post:
Intimate Immensity XXV, oil and wax on rice paper and wood, 6.25"  x 6". 2008
Intimate Immensity XXXVI, oil and wax on rice paper and wood, 6.25"  x 18". 2009
Resplendent, oil on canvas, 44" x 42", 2009
Dreams Underfoot II, oil on canvas, 42" x 39", 2010


The Process

By: Bryan Rye

You see the end, the whole. Look deeper
And imagine with me. There is the stretched
Canvas, carefully prepared. There the first,
Second, maybe eighth attempt at beginning.
Lines that were added, removed, extended, shortened.
Beyond that was pacing, staring and adjusting.
Music or silence may have reigned alternately.
Electric or strings, lyrical or tumultuous.

This did not happen all at once, there
Was time, meals, sunsets, sunrises.
There were phone calls in the midst
Of spattered paint and sanded surface.
Finally there was wood, metal, and wire,
Worked with precision and artistry.
All this one woman did, all for this
Work that is now before your eyes.
It was her mouth that named it,
Her smile that encouraged it. Her
Frown that reproved it, driving it
To excellence. This is the process.