Private Island

This piece has heavy texture in places. This texture comes from building up heavy layers of paint, which provides a rich history for the piece, not all of which is always visible. Notably, there are ridges above and below the island shape from lower layers, which do not connect with the visible layer. This is part of the history of the painting, but do check this out in the photos. If you have OCD tendencies and don't like heavy texture, this piece may not be for you. The piece is finished with a coat of Liquitex satin varnish and a cold wax rub, both of which help protect the painting over time. The painting has a satin/matte finish. This piece is framed in a white 12"x12" Cardinali Renewal Core Floater Frame that is 3/4" deep. The frame is screwed into small wooden dowels that have been glued to the back of the wood panel. If you want to replace this frame down the road, you can do so by removing the screws from the back and carefully removing the wood panel from the frame. The back of the frame includes a sawtooth hanger and bumpers at the bottom for hanging the piece. A certificate of authenticity is adhered to the back of the piece using archival-quality adhesive.

This intuitive piece was part of the collection we worked on in Nicholas Wilton's "Creative Visionary Program" that I did in spring 2024. I'm so happy to have done that program, it really expanded how I see my art practice! I was working on 5 different pieces at the same time when I made this, which was new for me at the time. I’d been hearing for a while now that it’s better to work on multiple pieces at once, and I got why. I can quickly switch between projects when I need a break. This actually allows me to work longer, as each context switch helps boost my energy and mood. I lost track of how many iterations and transformations this particular piece went through, for real. Sometimes they can take quite some time to figure out what they want to be. I was most recently working it towards a snowy scene from the Pacific Northwest when it told me that it actually wanted to be somewhere warmer, so here it is in its final form, a warm south seas island that most people would love to visit!