MERLE  PLAGGE ART

STATEMENT OF ARTISTIC  PHILOSOPHY


I believe we are all a product of our inheritance AND early environment AND education, as well as continued influence and interaction with other people and the environment.  So, with that in mind and coming from a long scientific background, and having lived in rural areas most of my life,  most of my paintings are strongly related to scientific, experimental and environmental issues.  These are also things I enjoy painting. I also enjoy "spreading my wings" and trying something different and/or unexplored.


I am happier now, to be able to express ideas that I couldn't do with photography. I still feel that if you want a photograph of something or someone take a photograph. However, if you want an artful,  imaginative interpretation of a subject, turn to painted or sculptural art.  And because of my visual problems, drawing on paper is very difficult for me to see unless I make dark marks which are not easy to remove later. As a result most of my paintings are either drawn with paint and/or end up as  non-representational, which expresses my interpretation of a difficult subject that probably no one has ever seen. So your mind doesn't decide what's correct, as it would with a tree or an animal or person.

I now paint in mixed water media, using both synthetic paper or cotton rag watercolor paper, with acrylic paint, fluid acrylics and inks in an improvisational method. I continually ask myself, What If?  What will happen if I mix two different paints together, or do something else we are all warned about not doing? This often yields some interesting surprises.  And, each painting is thus unique. 

Occasionally I do get the urge to paint something more representational and add pastels to the mix of media used for that expression.

When I don't have a chance to paint for a day or so, I feel a need to express myself in some way.  It's almost like an addiction, I guess.


Painting: Time Warp - Acrylic Ink on Synthetic
"Seaside" Fluid Acrylics  on Yupo , 18 x 12"  (available - $390)



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