I recently came across the work of Josie Morway and felt an immediate spark. She has the same love of found materials and the same ability to get lost in layers of feathers. She also complements her portraits with graphically influenced backgrounds. Only where I use Arabic calligraphy inspired lines she draws upon Typeface and lettering. I just love the softness she has achieved in this piece.
"Overlap"
Audrey Kawasaki - Oil & Graphite on Wood
Then of course there is the work by one of my original influences, Audrey Kawasaki. It was through a love of her work that I came across the oil on wood technique that I use in my own work. Audrey's work introduced me to the magic of sealing the wood with a clear acrylic polymer before painting in thin oil glazes. This allows the wood grain of the support to fully show through and in my case, be left exposed all together.
Tonight I'm excited to get to go see the work of one of my new favorite influences,
Kelly Vivanco. Her solo show, featuring mainly new works on round panels, opens tonight at
Halogen Gallery here in Belltown.
Having been someone who used to work in the round I'm excited to get to see what Kelly has done with her compositions. Her style of wide-eyed girls isn't necessarily an influence for me but her prolificy IS. (At least I WANT to be influenced by such!) Maybe it is just because she works in acrylic rather than oils but my oh my does Kelly put a lot of work out there. And her style is consistently
hers every time with a sense of whimsy, fairytale and dream. Can't wait to see the show tonight!
