In the second half of 2021, I produced many paintings, which became more abstract and more message-oriented over time. I also played and doodled, used new colors, and tried new techniques, such as collage and stenciling. I learned some valuable lessons, and had a lot of fun. I really like to keep landscape elements in my paintings, and if they get so abstract or patterned that I lose those, then I'm not happy with the result.
In the summer, I painted some abstract landscapes with darling artistic granddaughter Maddie, while experimenting with odd colors I found in my art supplies:
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Weeks later I kept painting on the second one, and as it became "Nightfall on Epsilon 3":
Some more seaside paintings ended up being about kelp deforestation, although trying to keep the message subtle may have hidden it too much. In the second one below, I tried odd colors again and collaged on bits of newspaper articles about environmental issues.
The oil spill into the sea off of Orange County in October 2021, which threatened the beaches and the ecological reserves, inspired some Edge paintings:
While I continued to tear up some paintings and collage them back together, I decided with "Remembrance 4" about endangered species that I liked it too much to tear up, so I printed a photo of it and tore that up, resulting in "Remembrance 6." I liked that well enough to try to replicate it in a painting, "Remembrance 7." And here's where I lost the landscape elements and am undecided about these two. Compare the two versions below. What do you think? Will I continue on this track or branch off again? Doesn't really matter, because I have really enjoyed making all of these paintings and THAT is the whole point!
