Wednesday 4 May 2016

SOLD - YUKON by Sea Dean


Yukon
8" x 10" canvas panel
16" x 20" wide white wooden frame
SOLD

This is another painting that sold during the Lake Country Coffee House solo exhibition. It has a long and varied history which I will share with you.

Back in 2011 I was staying with friends on Vancouver Island. One morning they showed me a photo in a newspaper of an indistinct and linear range of mountains in pastel shades of blue. When I had time, I painted this scene from memory, but I was never happy with the result. I don't think pastel shades work well with acrylics and at that time I hadn't discovered molding paste or gel. I put the painting aside.

A year or two later I found the painting and thought I would work on improving it, with my new skills. I added a fair amount of color and added a creek and water, but held back from changing the composition, because that was my initial inspiration. I thought it would spoil the simplicity and I also have a horror of what I call "chocolate box" compositions. I let the painting rest.


A few days later I realized that the painting was missing a foreground and decided to place a tree in the sweet spot. Suddenly it was infinitely more interesting and inviting. I still wasn't super happy, but I posted in my online shop. It didn't sell.


When curating my solo exhibition I found my favorite frame, a very wide, plain white wooden frame and I knew I wanted to use it on a particular wall. I took out all my 8" x 10" paintings and tried them in the frame one by one. As soon as I popped YUKON into the frame I knew I had a winner. All that time there was nothing wrong with the painting, it just needed a powerful frame.

I have started adding pictures to my shop of how an unframed painting would look either matted or framed and now I know why. Most paintings look good on a deep gallery wrap canvas, or with a simple frame, but others need a bit of pizzaz.


http://paintamasterpiece.blogspot.ca/2016/04/yukon.html

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All work by Sea Dean protected by International Copyright - No printing, copying, electronic transfer or any form of duplication allowed without written permission from the Artist.