But what does it mean? (part 4)

"Liquid"

48x60

This is the largest canvas painting that I've done to-date. (The largest painting I've done was a commission for a 72x72) I had seen this giant canvas at the art supply store on more than one occasion and I had always said to myself that I wanted to paint something this big.  When I finally took the plunge and bought this giant piece, I let it sit in my studio for a good 2 weeks and I stared at it.  I wanted to make sure whatever it was that I painted would be new and creative. 

Now, to be completely transparent as an artist, I had no idea what I wanted to paint.  I was at a complete loss and thought I had actually run out of creativity!  I know that you can't really "run out" of creativity, but there was still a small side of me that panicked and wondered if this was going to be the end of my painting career.  Then I did something that's really hard for me to do: I let go.  I let go of the insecurities that I had as a novice painter (the idea that nothing is good enough) and just let my brain relax.  That's when I got the idea for "Liquid".

The background of the painting is a deep blue that was washed with a dark brown over the top of it.  The red paint was a level 1 acrylic that I poured into a paper cup and mixed it with warm water.  When I got it to the right consistency, I just poured it right onto the canvas.  When the red had partially dried, I took a turquoise blue and mixed it water, pouring it directly over the red paint.  The result is what you see in this picture of the painting.  It was amazing to watch the transformation take place from a plain white canvas to this expression.

This painting is unlike anything I've ever done.  I have stretched my wings and begun the journey to see what I'm capable of creating, and this is just a scratch on the surface.