ESSAY 2D Abstract Calligraphy Style Painting
<<BACKYOU & ME...Love
5' x 7' Acrylic on canvas
2021—This painting is from my first roll of canvas—little did I know that was the beginning of nearly 30 years of exploring substrates; ink and acrylic painting techniques; while honing my personal style of abstract calligraphy. The story below was written while the painting You & Me was in progress, coupled with a new, life changing, romantic relationship.
1995—During the time of working on this painting, I began to notice an unusual amount of bald eagle encounters—in person, in dreams and then a special gift from a Native American elder—so began research of the historical value of the bald eagle through cultures e.g. Native American animal medicine lore, National Geographic and the Smithsonian.
Months of research in hand, a sudden and unavoidable hunch whispered to halt analysis, return to the painting, view with open heart, be with it, allow it to reveal its story. Alas, an understanding—the mating rituals of eagles—as the courtship begins at low altitude as they encircle each other and climb altitude until they reach their highest point—then lock talons and free fall as they mate. Once they reach low altitude they separate and begin the climb again, and again, and again.
That said, and reflecting on the painting, I see the two primary brush movements of burgundy and white as free falling together, blended colors, nearly inseparable. Near the bottom of the painting the colors emerge out of a free fall of a blended color ecstasy so to speak, and become each their own, independent, color again. Further reflecting…perhaps the ebb and flow of an intimate relationship also requires skillful maneuvering between intimacy and autonomy, with a keen grasp on not loosing oneself in the ecstasy of oneness—to emerge empowered by ecstasy, to return to life, work, society, again, and again, and again.
Excerpt from the back of the painting:
the ebb and flow of being together harmoniously and experiencing the autonomous part of relationship, then trusting that love will be there upon return from an autonomous period. Voila love feels like home again. However, it is different. More intimate. More real. Definitely more playful.
Essay revised August 1, 2021 | Originally published 1995
5' x 7' Acrylic on canvas
2021—This painting is from my first roll of canvas—little did I know that was the beginning of nearly 30 years of exploring substrates; ink and acrylic painting techniques; while honing my personal style of abstract calligraphy. The story below was written while the painting You & Me was in progress, coupled with a new, life changing, romantic relationship.
1995—During the time of working on this painting, I began to notice an unusual amount of bald eagle encounters—in person, in dreams and then a special gift from a Native American elder—so began research of the historical value of the bald eagle through cultures e.g. Native American animal medicine lore, National Geographic and the Smithsonian.
Months of research in hand, a sudden and unavoidable hunch whispered to halt analysis, return to the painting, view with open heart, be with it, allow it to reveal its story. Alas, an understanding—the mating rituals of eagles—as the courtship begins at low altitude as they encircle each other and climb altitude until they reach their highest point—then lock talons and free fall as they mate. Once they reach low altitude they separate and begin the climb again, and again, and again.
That said, and reflecting on the painting, I see the two primary brush movements of burgundy and white as free falling together, blended colors, nearly inseparable. Near the bottom of the painting the colors emerge out of a free fall of a blended color ecstasy so to speak, and become each their own, independent, color again. Further reflecting…perhaps the ebb and flow of an intimate relationship also requires skillful maneuvering between intimacy and autonomy, with a keen grasp on not loosing oneself in the ecstasy of oneness—to emerge empowered by ecstasy, to return to life, work, society, again, and again, and again.
Excerpt from the back of the painting:
the ebb and flow of being together harmoniously and experiencing the autonomous part of relationship, then trusting that love will be there upon return from an autonomous period. Voila love feels like home again. However, it is different. More intimate. More real. Definitely more playful.
Essay revised August 1, 2021 | Originally published 1995