Rest Stop Ocotillo - 5 x 7 study in oil

  I had no clue when I started a 5 x 7 study of "Rest Stop Ocotillo" that a brand knew style would be born. A style that somewhat resembles icing a cake! 

   I began the study with a palette knife and although I intended to paint the rest of it with brushes, I used the palette knife all the way to the end, even signed it with the knife! 

   For the most part, I struggle with being too tight in my work. My paintings often land more on the realistic side and I long to have a looser, more painterly style. In this case, when I started applying paint with the palette knife, something broke loose and that more expressive side suddenly emerged. I was so surprised to see it! I felt a kind of elated freedom and a renewed inspiration! The thick, expressive paint and crazy colors that happened were so exciting!

  When I approached the larger canvas version of "Rest Stop Ocotillo", I did not expect to continue this palette knife technique. For one, icing with oil paints is not a cheap way to go! Such is not the case...I couldn't help it... I iced the cake. A 24" x 20" canvas was painted with a single palette knife. I shudder to think of how much paint I used. None the less, I was so pleased in the end. I love this new expression!
Growth, discovery and change are all part of this path with "Art".

"Rest Stop Ocotillo"
24" x 20" oil on canvas

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