Oil Paintings on Woven Canvas
76 x 64 cm (29.5 x 24.5 in)
12 x 12 cm (30.5 x 30.5 in)
76 x 64 cm (29.5 x 24.5 in)
Having worked with 3D watercolors, it was a natural progression to oil painting in three dimensions. I developed an intricate approach of creating oil paintings on woven strips of canvas. I paint an “underpainting” of the subject – portrait, landscape or still life. Next, I lay down a curtain of vertical strips of canvas. I weave in horizontal and diagonal strips, sewing some strips together at crucial intervals for structural stability. Then I paint the three-dimensional surface.
As an artist, the work I do is never divorced from my roots in art history. For the oil paintings on woven canvas, I begin with the self-portraits of the Masters as my subjects: Rembrandt, Delacroix, Cezanne, Van Gogh, with a portrait of Giuseppe Verdi and my own self-portrait along the way. They are large scale (135 x 112 cm, or 53 x 44 in). There are also “miniatures” of Cezanne and Van Gogh that measure 21 x 21 cm, or 30.5 x 30.5 in.
The woven landscapes, mainly of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, are large scale as well, measuring up to 135 x 180 cm, or 58 x 71 in.
The woven paintings of still lifes, which constitute the third major category, range from larger (122 x 130 cm, or 48.5 x 51 in) to smaller (44 x 54 cm, or 17.5 x 21 in).