The Universe Provides

My artistic endeavors have been so rewarding over the past two years and I couldn’t be more gratified or grateful. This week I learned that, once again, an original osTRAnderArt will find a new home during the KVIE Art Auction!

This is a big deal for me… for what it stands for in my journey and for what it means to give back for what I stand for.  Two years ago I took a chance by submitting an artwork for consideration after just completing v1.0 of osTRAnderART.com.  With Covid-19 lock-downs, I decided to use my shelter-in-place time to advance my hobby from private to public… in less than 10 days I submitted and was accepted to participate in the 2020 KVIE auction.  That began a wonderful sprint of activity that I can best summarize as life changing.  Fast-forward two years…

Last week, on the last day of eligibility, I submitted for consideration into the 2022 auction, my artwork “voluptuous”, and WAS ACCEPTED!

This piece was conceived in 2021 after some late night readings and video watching of the legendary Willem de Kooning.  I was enamored by every bit of his work, his persona, his approach, his perseverance, and his success.  I wanted to channel this de Kooning experience into an original osTRAnderART.  This meant time, layers, different mediums, scraping back, rotating my canvas, big and loose strokes, with so may more pioneering techniques… and all somehow achieving a composition that speaks without words, moves in stillness, and once experienced simply cannot escape the consciousness.

I don’t know that I’ll ever achieve any of that, but tonight I am drinking champagne and celebrating like a champ!

My work on “voluptuous” began with a layer of alcohol…… ugh, ink; alcohol ink.  Yes, alcohol and ink in any old way I felt…

I then added some scripture of my own volition in black negative space…

with some masked blending and streaking….

This is August 2021, and at this point I really have no clue where this is headed, but I know that means I’m on the right track…

Here it is in my studio while I’m working on other new experiments

After many months I get the urge to put more on and I really let loose!

Figuration emerges, and composition ensues…

I wish I had more process pics of the various layers that followed, but it was a flurry of giving the piece what was needed in real time… I added enamel, and charcoal, joint compound and heavy acrylics in a spat of adding and scraping and adding and covering, in just a few days. I painted shapes, and feelings, and thoughts, and whatever my body felt.

Bellow are some detail pics of the nuance… click on the pic to view up close.

That’s the story of “voluptuous”. I so look forward to seeing this work in the PBS Gallery and on television at the end of September.  Stay tuned for more details.

I am energized by the opportunities that lay in the future.  Thank you for letting me share this story.  btw, if your are still here with me reading this – you may have caught a slight hint at the beginning of this post… osTRAnderART.com has gone past v1.0 and through a version change!  Visit the site and let me know what you think of the changes.  A whole new look and feel.  I’m featuring great examples of my work in the footer of each page so every visitor can get a glimpse of what I’m working on.  The gallery depicts available pieces at incredible prices.  Contact me if you see something you like.

Thank you all for your support!

~Eric