I call myself “Artist” for want of a better term. There is nothing self-evident in my creative work except the compulsion to do it. Through no intention of my own, I have been pointed out as something apart, a five legged calf, a monster. I have never fought for that position, nor do I do so now to keep it. Yet I may as well at times have felt the winds of megalomania sweep across my brow. But I believe myself to be immune. I need only for one second remind myself of the utter unimportance of art in the human world in order to cool myself down again. But that does not mean the compulsion does not remain.
-VARTIMMEN

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

"SHOAL”



SIZE: 30" x 30"
Acryilcs on 2inch cradled Gessobord

gallery price $1500



“The more I applied colors and mediums the more it began to resemble A shallow place in a body of water.”
TIP: To view the extreme amount of texture and detail in this painting please click on the image above to open a new window in your browser and then click again on that image to zoom into the artwork.
My paintings are built up in layers, with each layer affecting and influencing those above, creating an organic quality and a sense of depth and complexity. I have developed a number of techniques for creating texture using a range of tools from carving knives to a dental pick. I also scrape, gouge, and dissolve parts of the layers so that underlying bits emerge. Most of my paintings are done on wood board panels that provide a sufficiently rigid support for a rather aggressive use of these tools.


I am interested in the effects of color, whether bold or subtle, and often the genesis for a painting is a selection of color or a range of colors around which the painting will center. In my process I wish to balance an intuitive and spontaneous response with thoughtful analysis and evaluation; and random, experimental marks with strong composition and structure. I try for an interesting tension and contrast between images that evoke the “real” world”, and those that are more purely abstract.

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