Winn - Painting of Sign SOLD

Winn

6x6 inches

acrylic on board

The last one for the "Sense of Place" featured exhibit. I went to the gallery this afternoon with 16 paintings to hang. Always nervewracking! I hope it looks okay - I will take pictures tomorrow before the reception. The opening runs from 6 to 8:30pm at Sage Art Gallery, 136 Washington Street in Haverhill, Mass.

Here is some of the statement. that I wrote to go with the show:


A Sense of Place

Signs are all around us. They tell us where we are and where we are going. Sometimes signs reveal a great deal about the character of a place, or about the time period or location in which they were built. I am especially fascinated by old signs, the flickering neon, the outdated lettering, the faded colors - the old-fashioned markers that are quickly being replaced by electronic versions.

I decided to concentrate on little sections of signs - highlighting the composition of the colors, angles and shadows. There is a whole landscape in the bits of rust, reflecting surfaces, old cables, crumbling plaster and burnt out bulbs that I want to immortalize before they disappear.

These small paintings are also a play on scale. Signs tend to be large and seen from a distance. These are so small they invite you to get close, even to pick them up and hold them in your hand. Interesting compositionally on their own, these bits of signs can also spark memories of places we have been, parts of our personal histories.

Signs tell stories - or remind us of our own.