Tag Archives: texture painting

About the Painting

Looking Westward

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The visual effects of corrosion fascinate me. The textures of rusty metal, peeling paint and weathered wood are delicious to my eyes. I’ve tried to bring this concept into a number of my paintings, experimenting with different ways to achieve it. (You can see it in Crosswise, for example.)

With Looking Westward, the dominant colors of rust red and turquoise emit a southwestern vibe. I keep the palette limited and the composition simple. To create the random tactile quality of the surface, I use a putty knife and plastic food wrap, two items I keep handy in my studio. A layer of red oxide goes on over the texture first, followed by a complete covering of lightened turquoise.

When the turquoise layer is dry to the touch, I use blue painter’s tape to mask off the areas I want to remain untouched in the next step. I’m about to do some damage here, but remember what I said about corrosion? The exposed areas get a wet sandpaper treatment, leaving a wonderful random pattern that is influenced by the texture. When I remove the tape, I’m pleased to see that the ridges and bumps keep the edges rough and imperfect, achieving a natural, worn effect. To unify the overall painting and to bump up the surface interest, I fling splatters of pale turquoise and dark brown paint on the canvas and call it done.

Looking Westward evokes the feeling in me of looking through what is near toward what is far away. I hope you enjoy looking at it too.

This painting is 12”x12” acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas. If you need help visualizing how it might look in your home or office, you can see it in context here. Contact me if you’d like to give it or any of my other paintings a good home.

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All art is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without express written permission. Copyright 2016 Laura Hunt
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About the Painting

My Jupiter

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Where does inspiration come from? Just about anywhere! A texture seen on a nature walk. The swirl of water as it goes down the drain. A rusted-out pickup. Really, anywhere.

In the case of My Jupiter, the inspiration came when my friend Sharon tagged me on Facebook with an image of the planet Jupiter as seen from one of the poles. She said it reminded her of one of my paintings. That was enough to get me going!

I had no intention of creating one of those typical black-space-with-lots-of-swirls paintings. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; it just wasn’t a direction that felt authentic to me. I was aiming for more of an earthy (uh, Jupitery?) mandala-like feel.

I started by laying down texture in a circular, very organic pattern that had some of the interesting variations I saw in the original Jupiter image. Everything rotates around a pole and shows the effects of that movement, but the farther away from the center, the more the relationship to the center disintegrates.

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Metallic colors—copper, gold, bronze—with green and ocher create an atmospheric yet down-to-earth appearance to the painting. Layers of glazes give it depth. And the final splatters streak across the canvas to suggest the motion of the universe.

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My Jupiter is 20” x 20” on gallery-wrapped canvas, wired and ready to hang. You can see it in a contextual photo here. From March 25 (Gallery Night) through April, My Jupiter is available at Upstairs Gallery, 1038 W. Abram Street in Arlington, TX.

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All art is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without express written permission. Copyright 2016 Laura Hunt


 

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About the Painting

Elements of Time

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If you’ve read some of my earlier posts, you’ll know that the high horizon line is a favorite compositional approach for me. I used it again in Elements of Time. As the title suggest, I was drawn to the visual effect of time, weather, and age on surfaces. Texture, of course, is always an element in my paintings, and a close-up examination rewards you with a worn lusciousness that begs to be touched.

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Elements of Time is composed of many layers of earthy colors and glazes that enhance the painting’s depth. Above the horizon are layers of paler tones built on one of my favorite materials, gauze (detail below), anchored underneath with an irregular row of gold vertical raised “rods” that march across the division between dark and light. Splatters in red orange, blue, and ecru complete the composition. I used my favorite square format, which creates a sense of stability.

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Elements of Time is painted on a 20 x 20 gallery-wrapped deep canvas.You can see it in a contextual photo here. Check out the FAQ page to learn how you may purchase this or any of my paintings.

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Join me on Facebook and Instagram for behind-the-scenes peeks and first postings of new work.

All art is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without express written permission. Copyright 2016 Laura Hunt

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About the Painting

Revealing my Crosswise process

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A passion for texture is a major motivator for my work. Laying down texture is my go-to first step. That’s where I consider the composition of the piece, playing with the depth, the character, and tactile qualities that will guide what happens next. I’ve created a number of paintings using layered stripes, sometimes horizontally, sometimes vertically, to produce exciting clashes abutting and layered on top of each other.

In Crosswise, I laid down my texture—well—crosswise, parallel with the shorter side of the canvas. While painting the stripes in the same direction might have been pretty, I wanted a tension at play. So instead, I painted the layers of stripes vertically, in direct opposition to the underlying texture. The result is a rich vibration that you can see in the detail photos here as the brush skips over the ridges.

16379-crosswise-detail-4-loThe painting progresses from the cool greens and blues of fields and streams at the bottom to the warm reds, oranges, and yellows of sunshine and flames at the top. Gold gem-like dots punctuate the painting’s verticality and provide a surprise to be found by the viewer.

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But nothing is perfect! Nature causes decay and corrosion on objects, which this painting expresses with the worn-away passage at the top. Random splatters top off the painting with spontaneous exuberance, a contrast to the relative discipline of the underlying structure.

Crosswise is painted on standard gallery-wrapped 22 x 28 canvas, and is ready to hang. See the painting in context here.

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All art is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without permission. Copyright 2016 Laura Hunt

 

 

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About the Painting

Prevailing Winds

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Prevailing Winds is one of a group of paintings expressing the sense of being in a low place viewing a high horizon line. Honestly, I don’t think too much about the origin of most paintings before I begin, but afterwards I try to reflect on the why of it all.

One image from childhood surfaces in my memory rather frequently. It’s the picture of having been sent by my parents down the hill to one of the poultry barns on our Central Texas farm to do a chore. It would be right at sundown, and having completed the chore, I would walk back up the rutted, rocky hill to the house toward dark but friendly silhouettes, background bathed in the setting sun’s glow.

The multiple trees in this painting come simply from my love of pattern. Certainly not from a childhood memory, because there are seldom that many trees together in a row in that part of Texas, at least not in natural settings. Commonplace though, especially in regions farther west, is the leaning of trees shaped by wind and weather. The place in this painting really doesn’t exist except on this canvas. I have no intention of depicting specificity. I am simply creating objects that express something for me.

Prevailing Winds is a small piece, only 24″ x 8″, painted with acrylics and mixed media on gallery-wrapped canvas. The textures, crusty and random, form the underlying structure. Earthy golds, rusts, and greens are accented with metallic gold, all bathed in a final layer of ecru, gold, and red splatters. Visit Gallery: Small Works to see Prevailing Winds as it might look in a home or office.

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All art is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without permission. Copyright 2016 Laura Hunt
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About the Painting

Art helping humans reclaim serenity

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My goal for Reclaimed was to evoke serenity, thus the choice of neutral metallic paints. The shimmery neutrals are very rich with lovely undertones of blue, green, and rust. Neutrals can seem a little boring in theory, but the variety of textures, the shifts of color, and the surprising little iridescent pearls make this quite interesting to look at as it responds to changing light.

Reclaimed has an underlying structure of 16 squares, which supports the solidness and stability of the larger square. But every small square catches the light in its own unique way, with various materials, textures and paints each bringing their own contribution to the quiet ambience of the piece. I imagine it in someone’s office across from the desk, where the human who works there can look at it and reclaim some moments of serenity in the middle of a hectic day.

Reclaimed is painted in mixed media, including acrylics, on deep canvas. For another view of the piece, visit the Middle Works Gallery, scrolling down until you see the image.

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Join me on Facebook and Instagram for behind-the-scenes peeks and first postings of new work..

@SeptArtist

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All art is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without permission. Copyright 2016 Laura Hunt

 

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