Sanctuary #3 is based on memories from granite quarries in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The rock walls and mysterious pools are wonderfully tactile, especially lovely when framed by Nature reclaiming its original wildness. I love walking among these relics of intervention, looking at the evidence of human-scaled labor replaced by the chaos of lush vegetation returning. There is a sense of history and the feeling that ghosts are watching me. Details below. Enjoy.
How can I ever tire of painting the quarries? The mood is always changing, the forms are so stark, and and those reflections! Enjoy.
After a couple of freak rain storms, most of the ice and snow is gone. I don’t know if this can be called spring, maybe just an interlude before the next snowstorm. Whichever it is, I’ll enjoy it.
Cape Ann, north of Boston Massachusetts is full of old quarries – some tiny and some huge. The local granite was used to build much of early Boston and other colonial cities and towns in New England. Today, the woods are encroaching, but hiking the inland trails yields all sorts of quarry surprises and lovely views with New England’s basic assets of stone, water, and trees. This fairly shallow quarry is also a good place to listen to operatic bull frogs. Enjoy.
The hurricanes keep forming, and thankfully a few are staying off the coast. Ominous waves and rip tides though, as this study from Gloucester shows.
My fond farewell to the quarry for this season. Hoping to go back this winter for a new experience of the place..
These two studies were done on smooth, primed paper, which informed the quick, blocked in treatment using a palette knife. The strong sun gave me an opportunity to play with simplified shadows. I felt like Edward Hopper was sitting next to me, of course I was in his neighborhood!
There are many approaches to painting – especially on the continuum of realistic to abstract. I love them all when well-executed, but I think the most interesting way of painting looks for the intersection between realism and abstraction. Where the subject is evident and the handling of paint and composition are all in service to bringing out the Zen-like essential nature of both. In a great painting, one can savor the meaning and the way the subject is presented. One also glimpses how the painting seems to be anchored by history and at the same time fresh as tomorrow. The painting transparently lets us feel the artist’s process and thinking with each stroke. Of course producing such work takes time, practice, and, I think, wisdom gained throughout one’s life. It’s one reason why I keep doing these small paintings – to try new ideas and see if they will work in the context of what I want to say.
At the Old Quarry is a case in point. It is oil on prepared handmade paper, with the texture of the paper determining how it could be painted – what was possible. The uneven surface was perfect for a broader treatment using knife, pencil, and a (silicone) pointed scraper. I knew I wanted to base it on one of the quarries I visit regularly, but the composition also nods toward Mark Rothko’s famous stacked rectangles and squares. The energetic textural “strokes” acknowledge other abstract painters – including Joan Mitchell and Wolf Kahn. Working on this 7×7″ painting gave me insights into how I can approach a large 36×80″ panel waiting for my attention.
Teri Malo Studio 