Sculpture for the Wall
I try, but truly "flat" art eludes me
While I am a sculptor first, I love color too much to limit myself to wood tones. Even the washes generated from oil stains haven't been enough to appease the drive for more color. Painting carvings is fun, but carving is a demanding and time-consuming way to prepare a canvas that flat artists can buy in a store. Furthermore, sculpted wood substrates place a lot of demands on a paint film, whether prepared for indoor or garden display. I have finally allowed myself to separate the drive for color and sculpture by doing some work on canvas.
However, I'm still not a "flat" artist. I tried painting some of the Celtic knotwork I love to carve on canvas, and the result was completely disappointing. It may take years before I learn to paint a convincing facsimile of depth (whole 'nother discussion about why the original Celtic artists used so little actual 3D), so I decided to carve the canvas. Experiments to determine the best way to do this are on-going.
The numbers in the titles below refer to the illustrations in Appendix: Triangular Knots, from Aiden Meehan's Celtic Design Series, Knotwork: The Secret Method of the Scribes (Thames and Hudson: New York, 1991).
Small Knots (12") ($45)
#7 in green and pink #7 in orange #10 in orange and blue
Medium Knots (18") ($75)
#31 in reds