This is the third painting in a series of abstractions on 30 inch square canvases influenced by the seasons. The imagery is inspired by a synthesis of my relation with the materials and influences in my life: the paint, the canvas support, the square composition, and in this painting, an unusually warm stretch of winter weather in New York City.

The air was fresh and and the light full of clarity. There was a feeling of spring hanging in the winter air…

Starting out with a primary palette of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. I have been exploring these standard printing colors in the past year. Cyan bricks referencing the grid, and shards of yellow light.

Here come’s magenta, one of my favorite colors of late. I’m building space with geometric pieces.  Add black to get the CMYK family.

The loose-fitting shapes of the initial composition shift to two puzzle pieces. I like the puzzle piece because it makes inclusion and exclusion obvious. There is the actual piece, and then there is everything that fits around it. True existence.

This set the tone.

Now I introduce my extended palette. I started by mixing one color. I painted with just the one color before I mixed a second. Then I would have two colors to work with. Then I would mix the third, and have three colors to work with… etc.  This is different from how I usually mix a very diverse palette at the beginning of each painting session.

At this point I’m starting to feel a general vibe from the painting and sense a connection to the fresh winter weather. The sun fills my studio as I work, a refreshing air passes through the room.  Now that the palette is established for this painting, I would return to mixing a large palette before each session.

Dark crisp marks inform the softer capricious forms already present. This creates departure and transition throughout the painting.

Flesh, the body, visceral sensation.

Click the above painting for a larger version.

The final image feels fertile to me. The title is partly inspired by how Martin Heidegger explains poïesis as a moment of ecstasis when something moves away from its standing as one thing to become another: the blooming of the blossom, the coming-out of a butterfly from a cocoon, the plummeting of a waterfall when the snow begins to melt.

Fecund transition.

Below are the other two paintings from this series. Click the images for more information -

Bloom – Exhibited during a recent solo exhibition, “Windows of Self” at RL Fine Arts

Warm Autumn – Will be shown for the first time at my upcoming show on Feb. 23rd at StumbleUpon HQ NYC