Heart of Fire
Life’s magic often happens in unplanned ways. My job as an artist is to be open to the possibilites, to see and to follow-up on opportunity. I like the way the light comes from behind the image, “Heart of Fire,” – my eyes keep being drawn in. I think the quality of light is very similar to Susan Elkin’s “Tunnel I” which is featured on Susan Elkin’s Blog today. The vibrancy and mystery of the light from under the tunnel is related to the ambiguity of radiance in this image in Susan Elkin’s Blog.
Heart of Fire, Acrylic © Diane Clancy
“Heart of Fire” is another painting from my “Luminous Angles” series – the hard edge painting (acrylic) I refer to in Freedom – Code Almost There. In the “Freedom” painting, the lines were predominately straight. I ripped the masking tape, put it on the canvas then paint with acrylic paint thinned by some kind of gel medium – which makes the layer of paint transluscent.
In this painting, you can see that the black shapes are not sraight lines at all. So you can take masking tape and bend it as you are putting it on the canvas. This gives you more options for creating different shapes. These are the technical details.
But something else happens in the creation – a kind of magic that is beyond my control. I feel like the channel for what is happening, not the creator. This creative process is so exciting!
Please consider commenting so I know you are reading this and relating to what I say. Thank you!
– Diane Clancy
Technorati Tags: Susan Elkin, Susan Elkin’s Blog, Luminous Angles, hard edge painting, creative process
Though I work in a different medium, I am very familiar with the phenomenon of the unexpected magic. I have the sense you and I have a similar attitude of being a conduit for something greater than ourselves. I love how you are able to bend and twist your paint using masking tape. I might have thought this was a type of collage if you hadn’t described your process so clearly.
Sue, once I saw your work, I knew you worked as a conduit of something greater – it was very clear to me! Part of what keeps me going is that sense of magic.
Looking at “Heart of FIre” now, to me it almost looks like it could be digital. Collage, digital, acrylic – it is interesting that they could all be used to get the similar image.
I think of this “hard edge” painting as painting with “sheets of light.” That is part of what is going through my mind when I am painting … Just applying “sheets of light” to the canvas. Sheet after sheet after sheet …
– Diane Clancy
Diane, I’ve only recently discovered the diffuse filter (filter>stylize>diffuse), but it seems to have very subtle effects on the way light spreads on an image. Try it and see what you think!
I like your artwork, and appreciate you sharing part of your process and technique. It’s very interesting to see new methods for creating art, and your style looks fun and unique.