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In the studio, I surround myself with canvases of all sizes. I put mounds of paint on my big glass palette, pick up a painting knife and create seemingly random, textured surfaces on the canvas. The layers and layers of paint become the foundation for a painting’s background. Next comes opaque color; underlayers of paint “peek through”, suggesting something hidden and offering depth and visual interest. The shapes inspire the subject; they always become the painting that they are supposed to become.
I paint what I love: adult beverages, the musical instruments of jazz, strong coffee. I paint in a bold impressionistic style. I love thick, juicy paint, loose shapes, the smell of the studio. I paint because it fills me with a sense of well-being, of belonging, of total “be in the moment” consciousness. I am never closer to myself than at those moments.
Although shape, color and tone are my focus, for me the subject is important in that it also carries emotion and mood. But the shapes and colors are what draw me in; the bigger, the bolder, the better. The palette knife demands that I paint large shapes. The ongoing experiment with color invites me to be bold.
At that moment I was convinced that I was a painter.
I started painting almost by accident. I was a successful attorney, living comfortably in the left side of my brain. A friend bought me paints and brushes for my birthday.
I said, "How did you know I wanted to paint?"
She said, "It's all you've been talking about for months."
I didn't even realize I had mentioned it.
I was living on my boat at the time, traveling the east coast. My lifestyle limited my painting: I couldn't paint large canvases nor was the rocking of the boat conducive to painting straight lines. Seeing those limitations, I studied color. Vivid, bright, saturated, alive colors appealed to me then and still do.
Four years later I moved off of the boat to Provincetown, Massachusetts, a town with a rich and eclectic art community.
I paint large canvases now but I still don't paint straight lines.
I'm currently working a great deal with a palette knife. Since itís not an instrument designed for detail work, it forces me to paint larger and larger shapes in a painterly style. I continue to experiment with color. I seek subject matter which makes me smile and is technically challenging. Quite simply, my goal is to put shapes of color on a canvas and make paintings. I love the process; I love the product.
-- Madeliene Abling
Represented by Abling Gallery, 255 Commercial Street, Provincetown, MA 02657, 508-487-2028
www.ablinggallery.com
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