I have been creating grids and then filling them in for several years. The original inspiration for these paintings was an art work that I saw while visiting my grandmother's house in Minnesota. Recently, I began to inpose more on this idea, thinking about internal design and composition within the grid. After that, I realized that I could vary the size and shape of the components of the grid, and push farther into abstraction at the same time. I was particularly influenced by an artist named Elizabeth Murray. So this was all happening at around the time I went to Madison, Wisconsin to see David's production of Handel's Acis and Galatea. In the first half of the opera, there is a romantic story about a happy couple who are madly in love and sing "Happy Happy We," which is a wonderful phrase all in itself.
When I got home, I saw a "save the date" card for the upcoming wedding of Debbie Bergman and Ricky Garcia. On the front was a romantic and very beautiful photo of the happy couple. So, Handel, Elizabeth Murray, my grandmother's house, and Debby and Ricky's upcoming wedding converged and became the inspiration for this little painting.
Happy Happy We
Oil Painting: 18"x 24"
2013
After Happy Happy We, I did another painting in a similar style which moved off the idea of the grid and introduced some additional forms to break up the symmetry.
Night
Oil Painting: 18" x 24"
