The ‘Line and Cover’ Collection
If you can believe it, I began painting the ‘Line and Cover’ Collection last July.
As you may have guessed, there were many stops and starts along the way.
For a while now, I have been patiently waiting for the openness and mental clarity within myself in order to express in the most honest way. Finalizing a divorce and moving to a new home are two events that require a substantial amount of emotional and physical bandwidth. One event, regardless of how necessary it may have been, is like a death, while the other event brims with excitement and newness. It is not lost on me that these experiences perch themselves on opposite ends of the emotional spectrum, and I toggled between these tensions regularly.
When I felt ready to paint, I started small and with what I was familiar with; the 4x4 wood blocks. What began to be realized was an expression that was as cathartic as it was necessary. A release to conclude one season of my life coming to an end, or better yet - a season I was wholly ready to release. I felt led to acknowledge how protected I was during that difficult season and at the same time, how emotionally frail those experiences left me. The ‘Line & Cover’ Collection is my way of acknowledging our frail and fallen nature under His sovereign grace.
“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” - Psalm 32:7
The idea of a cover, or a covering resonated deeply with me. It represented protection, whole and complete, steady and unwavering. In thinking of a creative contrast, a thin line is that thing that is inherently delicate and vulnerable. Oftentimes unsteady. I saw myself in that description, in that line. Because my work is rooted in narrative expression, it was important for me to find a way to communicate this dichotomy visually.
Some of my early studies before forming the final narrative for this collection combined the use of a simple pencil line and whole washes of watercolor. In these studies, it was helpful to see how delicate a line appeared against different washes of watercolor.
The conceptual ideas of ‘line’ and ‘cover’ resonate with me very much, still.
Returning to the collection after six months, however, alerted me to the fact that time had indeed passed. While the narrative of the collection is eternal assurance, the mindset that created the work and color palette has grown, and changed. I am not in the same place I was six months ago - mentally and emotionally. Therefore, the palette of blues, greens, and coppers; albeit beautiful, does not reflect where I am. This phase of the collection is complete.
So, what does this all mean? I have some ideas…
The ‘Line & Cover’ Collection will be released soon - maybe early February. It is a smaller collection than I’m used to releasing, but it is honest in its expression and very special to me.
The gestural combination of pencil and watercolor washes will continue to be expressed…