Artist Statement
I have always been very moved by nature, plants, trees and all organic things. I have also been influenced by Textile designs from Asia and Africa as well as the Aboriginal paintings of Australia. Most of these paintings started as small drawings. Out of the drawings seemed to evolve a language of shapes, symbols and even characters. I am not sure what they all mean but I am curious to see where it is going.
The major part of each painting was done by using acrylic paint mixed with matte medium and then squirted out from a squeeze bottle onto board. The resulting quality of the paint on the surface is very similar to the texture in textiles. Another big influence for me has been the artist Alden Mason, who has used a similar technique as I have just described. I thought I came up with this technique but I came to find out that he had been painting in much the same way as well as having similar influences. My personal evolution to get to the squeeze bottle came about from having made many etchings. In this printmaking process there is a technique that enables one to draw with a continuous line much like a ball point pen. In contrast a brush fairly quickly needs to be “reloaded”. Nevertheless, I have used a brush on many of these paintings to come back over the dry squeeze bottle passages with thin glazes/washes of paint. This later technique helps bring out the texture and consolidate the palette.
David Harrison