Dialogue With Blue
Selected Paintings
Undertow
60″ X 48″ Mixed Media On Canvas
I am like the undertow, going against the grain of the surface current.
The blank canvas is incredibly exciting to me. I carefully lay out my tools and paints and the process begins anew, different each time.
Expanse of Blue
54″ X 54″ Mixed Media on Canvas
Shoreline
39″ X 39″ Mixed Media On Canvas
If I set a definite time limit to a painting session, as I did in Shoreline, I maintain looseness, keep my intellect out of the process and my emotions at the forefront.
Imposing restraints in the painting process, such as with choice of palette or tools, results in a more powerful creation.
Rough Seas
40″ X 40″ Acrylic On Canvas
Contemplations
36″ X 36″ Mixed Media On Canvas
I may fool myself into thinking I start each painting with an intention, but in the end, the brush and other materials have the last word.
Lately I have been drawn to the creation of overlapping shapes as a way to anchor my compositions
Contemplations II
40″ X 40″ Acrylic On Canvas
Dialogue With Blue
Recently I attended a painting workshop in which the instructor assigned an exercise involving only the use of blue paint of any shade or shades. Since I have not been a user of large amounts of blue in recent years this was quite a challenge for me. Yet several months after the workshop I inexplicably felt the pull toward blue again and decided to follow my urges as I always do in my work.
As I painted these first paintings in the series, I kept asking myself why blue and why blue now as opposed to any other time? Blue evokes calmness, peace and tranquility, both the healing nature of water as well as stormy seas. It also symbolizes introspective journeys, wisdom and depth. My foray into blue at this time is a recognition of not only the storm of my spouse’s lengthy period of crippling mental illness, but the healing journey as we both moved through that period into a space of calmness and peace. It is also a reflection of the depth of the self-examination I did during that period and continue to do as well as the wisdom I acquired from the experience.
-Julie Schumer
