Triptych Commission:
Thunder, Lightning, and a Violet Sunset
Acrylic, 24 x 84 x 3 inches
I was commissioned last year to paint an abstract triptych. The theme was left up to me. It took me a while to even come up with a starting point. Being the careful and calculated type, I did lots of research and sketches and thorough planning. But things don't always turn out the way we plan...
At last I began painting on the center panel, with a solid plan in mind. Using a large brush, I made marks on the canvas but my painting was slowly taking me in a different direction. The strong abstract shapes I started with were being morphed into waves and water, which morphed into fire, which then morphed into cloud formations. I let it sit and "mellow" on my easel for a while. I was certain that middle panel was meant to be horizontally oriented. Then a group of artist friends visited my studio and they all debated over the painting, making me turn it every which way. They emphatically agreed that a vertical orientation was THE way the painting needed to be viewed. They claimed they could feel a strong sense of movement from left to right. I disagreed, but with a half-hearted attempt at being open-minded, I left the canvas sitting on the easel in the position they voted on.
I'd walk into studio every day and look at the painting. Still not convinced, but knowing I needed to keep working, I set up 2 more easels, one on the left and one on the right, and placed the other two canvases on the easels and started painting.
I was inspired to place a lightning bolt in the middle panel. I was excited, but when my husband came to my studio to look at the painting he scowled, saying I had ruined it by adding the lightning bolt. So, I had hit a roadblock again…And I let the painting sit for a bit while I struggled with the nagging idea that I had indeed ruined it.
But deep in my heart I knew I had hit on a theme: Left panel: Thunder rolling in - Center panel: Lightning Bolt -- and the final panel had to be a Violet Sunset. OK, now you're probably wondering where did all this come from? Well, it so happens that the middle names of the couple's two young boys just happen to be Thunder, and Lightning, and the youngest child is a beautiful little girl named Violet Sunset. After that divine inspiration I knew I was on the right track. I let the brush dance and the paint flow until I just knew I was finished.
The painting titles are tastefully hand-lettered on the top of each of the gallery-wrapped canvases. The family is very happy with the finished trio of paintings, which are now hanging in their home in New York City. And I can go on to my next project!
~ Private Collection ~
