Anita Boyd

Blog

(posted on 17 Apr 2019)

Late winter and early spring has brought an opportunity to revisit ‘completed’ works and ask what more might appear there. Gradually, I am seeing how my many years as a traditional calligrapher give me an additional broad language for use within my abstract paintings. I can’t tell you how excited this makes me.

 

Drawn lines, my favourite Uncial hand, and asemic writing (having no meaning) are all showing up boldly on sizeable canvases and contributing new layers and complexity to my compositions. I’m thrilled! The process is the usual one of interior darkness and partial blindness as I translate questions into strokes and look endlessly at the resulting conversation. Are we heading to resolution yet?

 

As ever, I am inspired by bold artists whose work I encounter, often online. Standouts at present include Vanessa Lam and Lance Austin Olsen.

 

And I am planning an art-explore in New York shortly, before immersing myself in an annual Okanagan painting retreat, all guaranteeing a continuing, raucous paint conversation.