Description

What was the inspiration for Grounded? 

I painted this after my first transformational breathwork session. In that session, I came to terms with some fears I had in my marriage and with my father’s death.  This was a truly ugly painting at first. A weird tree that held a lot of intense emotion.  The next day, I turned it upside down and started painting over it, and this emerged.

What were its challenges? 

It was ugly at first. I struggled with the colors, which were ugly greens, but they proved a great foundation for all the pinks and bright colors.  I worked on the inside of this tree soooooo many times.  I still worry that I overpainted it.  But I like the texture inside it, the shadow of the struggle, but also hints that’s there’s more inside.    It’s also on paper, which I don’t usually paint with acrylics on so I had to decide out to finsih it.  When it came to finishing it, I decided to mount it on a birch board.  Scary to cut and smooth down. I think it would look best with a frame around it too.

What were the techniques you used? 

I used a stamping technique that made me laugh.  I turned it upside down many times. I used a lot of wet paint and spray techniques I left it many times and came back to it. I played with texture.