Summertime Art
Nine Years And The End Of Summer
42 x 24 inches
acrylic and oil on 2 inch cradled panel with red velour beneath ripped canvas
Lately, it’s been sunny and beautiful and I’ve been painting outside. It’s nice to spend time outdoors, and paint dries a hell of alot faster outside on a hot day than inside a hot cramped studio. The painting above is from August, 2006. It spent most of it’s time as a WIP outside lying on the grass in 90 degree heat.
detail photo after the jump
I think this may be the first painting where I placed velour behind a hole or opening. Prior to this I’d torn holes in plenty of canvases and experimented with various objects or substances behind the openings. But for this one I wanted to use something extremely tactile with an intense color that would make you want to reach through the hole and touch it. I wanted it to be something fairly unexpected that would feel nice and comforting. After days of searching through the house, I found an old red velour shirt I never wore and that was that.
detail of painting
So yeah, old work again, but like last week, it’s old work that’s related to what I’m working on now.
-Steph Gerolimatos
May 23, 2009 at 9:53 am
I like this one, Steph. The surface is intensely worked, and overall reminds me of peering into a giant blade of grass. I’m happy that you chose to incorporate the red velour; what a great and profitable experimentation. I also love that this piece spent its apotheosis sweltering in the heat and savoring the summer.
Another great job!
May 24, 2009 at 9:08 am
thanks, Jason. i think i have fond feelings for this one in part because of the WIP setting.
May 23, 2009 at 12:13 pm
I know it would sound like a great deal of re-arrangement but have you ever ventured into fiberglass, Steph? I used to lay-up moulds by hand at Haddonstone and would get all kinds of ideas of what could be done with it artistically. True, you have to wear a respirator, a clumbsy smock and change disposable gloves ever so often. The stuff is so fricken strong when it cures! After I left I found that an aircraft mfg was right next door making fuselauges and wings with graffite/epoxy composites and wanted to try that…just to see what it might mean for sculptural techniques!
Love the work!
May 24, 2009 at 9:06 am
thanks Andrew.
nope, never have. i’m always excited about the possibilities of new materials and, of course, Hesse did great things with fiberglass. the toxicity issue really is a huge turn-off tho. maybe someday if i have access to proper facilities…
May 23, 2009 at 2:35 pm
I love Steph’s work. She is awesome sauce.
May 24, 2009 at 9:06 am
aw, D! thanks man!
May 23, 2009 at 3:08 pm
This is one of my favorites by you. The color relationships really make the red pop out, while closer inspection of the majority surface texture present rich, subtle detail that draws me in. The textures, execution and everything just hits the mark really well.
May 24, 2009 at 9:07 am
merci mon ami!
May 28, 2009 at 10:01 pm
this is really beautiful. i have to say it is one of my favs. it makes you want to look closer, alot closer, peel back the layers and see what’s underneath.
May 30, 2009 at 7:48 am
thanks Miss Rita!
May 31, 2009 at 9:20 am
[...] with the cold, the above is a painting a I did during the winter months. It’s similar to the last one I posted in that it incorporates the same basic elements–a highly textured surface, a limited [...]