Tag: acrylic on canvas

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Write Around PAM: Larry Poons

Image Description: Larry Poons. “Open Country”. 1968. Acrylic on canvas. 84” x 204”. Large colorful painting with a thin wood frame. The background on the left two thirds is a muted rose color and the right third is a yellow orange color. A straight line separates the two colors with a few diagonal brush strokes on the pink that create a lighter ink color and a series of overlapping vertical brushstrokes on the edge of the yellow. There are two additional light yellow strokes above and out to the right. There is also an area of lighter yellow blended into the upper right corner. The bottom left of the painting is a lighter pink color with an organic line in the shape of a steeply sloping hill. Just below the slope is a series of six brush strokes—pink, white, yellow, red, purple, yellow.
Larry Poons (American, born 1937), Open Country, 1968, acrylic on canvas, 84 in x 204 in, Gift of the Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection. Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 2011.98.3

Color can evoke such strong feelings and memories, and allow us to engage with our senses in new ways. This painting by Larry Poons calls to mind summer delights: cotton candy, rose petals, sorbets, sunsets, warm sand, early mornings, and more. As we get our first dose of fall rain and cooler temperatures this weekend,…  Read more

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Daily Art Moment: Cameron Martin

Image description: Selvian, Cameron Martin, 53 x 40 inches, acrylic on canvas. A portrait-oriented work showing a close view of a rocky landscape in very pale shades of grays and white. Large chunks of rock jut out from the left in the foreground, haphazardly stacked and seemingly crumbling. The background contains more rough terrain in even paper monotone shades. A white border edges the top, bottom, and left side of the painting. A thin, black line runs over the image across the top, down right side and halfway across the bottom of the image.
Cameron Martin (American, born 1970), “Selvian,” 2012, acrylic on canvas, Gift of Camille Uhlir, 2021.32.1

The highly detailed work Selvian by Cameron Martin both excites and tricks my eye. Is this a photograph? A screenprint? A painting? Martin draws from multiple processes to create this piece and others in his Bracket series; he calls his approach “a kind of media collapse” that leaves us slightly disoriented about what we’re seeing.…  Read more

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Write Around PAM: Katherine Bradford

Ritual, Katherine Bradford, 80 x 68 inches, acrylic on canvas. A portrait-oriented painting depicting figures gathered beneath a full moon. This painting is rendered in hues of blues and greens with hints of pinks and purples. At the center top is a round pale blue orb with darker shading on its right edge. A white cone of light depicted in light brushstrokes emanates from the sphere down to the ground, which starts about a fifth from the bottom edge of the painting. Here swimsuit clad figures gather in the light. Three wear black swim trunks and one at left wears a pink one-piece swimsuit. Their arms are stretched upward towards the light and celestial body or moon. A lone figure in black trunks stands at left and another stands at right with their arm over their head. The bodies of the figures are painted in blues and purples. Near the central gathering, tiny orange and bright blue dots are splattered around the group. A horizontal rectangle resembling a bench or bed sits to the right of the grouping. The sky above the figures’ heads is various shades of blue daubed and brushed on with pinks and purples bleeding through. They stand on green-blue ground, with brushstrokes visible.

As we officially welcome spring and the bounty of beauty it offers, we are also reminded to pause, to reflect, and to honor all that has happened since spring last arrived, and to make space for all that is yet to come. This piece by Katherine Bradford feels like a perfect companion to this time…  Read more

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Daily Art Moment: Marlon Mullen

Untitled, Marlon Mullen, 36 x 36 inches, acrylic on canvas. A square painting showing the word “Horizon,” a slightly curved line, and a small crescent shape, all in black on a red background. The background is entirely painted in red with obvious brush work. Paint appears to be applied with short brushstrokes and is thick in some areas. Brushstrokes can be seen especially around the letters in the word “Horizon,” at top left, which is painted in all caps. The letters vary in thickness and are unevenly spaced. About a third from the top of the painting a black horizontal line runs from side to side and curves slightly upward in the middle. At left below the line and about a third from the bottom of the painting is a small black crescent shape. Heavy red brushstrokes surround the shape.

“Marlon Mullen begins his paintings with covers and pages cut from lifestyle magazines and contemporary art periodicals. As he develops a work, he transforms the images into a painted matrix of interlocking colors and forms. This work started with the cover of ‘Horizon,’ an arts-and-culture journal published from 1958 to 1989 and it is more…  Read more

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Write Around PAM: Brian Calvin

A horizontal, rectangular illustration of a white woman with long brown hair tucked behind her ears, positioned at the right. Viewed in profile, facing right, she leans her forehead against a bathroom mirror. Her eyes are closed. She wears a long-sleeve, light-blue top. She is reflected in the pink-framed mirror, seen with white, diagonal stripes representing the mirror’s glare. Behind her, in the center of the picture, is a window, also with glare streaks in the lower half, showing a tree with dark brown trunk and branches with foliage in various green tones. In the upper-left corner, leafy greens of a house plant are visible. The wall behind the figure is a yellow-green, the window is framed in a slightly darker yellow green. A dark blue horizontal stripe of tile runs along the back wall at chest level to the figure. A pink towel hangs on a bar at left.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with the enormity of both our own and the world’s pain. It feels even more important now to take moments to pause. Writing is a great tool to reflect, de-stress, #breakforjoy, and heal. Using this piece from Brian Calvin as inspiration, here are two prompts to help you get the pen…  Read more

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Write Around PAM: Kenneth Noland

Horizontally oriented painting featuring a wide, golden-yellow band, extending from edge to edge, left to right. At the top edge, a narrow band runs across the entire width of painting. This band is composed of thin bands of various colors and widths: very narrow bands of deep burgundy, black, coral pink, pale gray, and coral pink again, top a much wider band of pale coral. Underneath are more narrow bands of pale tannish peach, pale coral, pale tannish peach again, a grayish blue and finally off white. The bottom is composed of similar bands of varying widths and colors: the first is a slightly darker gold, followed by an off white, a burnt orange, very pale peach, slightly darker peach, very pale peach again, a periwinkle blue, pale green, a sage green, pale green, a bold red, a very narrow off white, a wider grayish blue and finally a black band finishes the piece.

During this time, it is important we all take moments to pause. Writing is a great tool to reflect, de-stress, #breakforjoy, and heal. Using this work by Kenneth Noland as inspiration, here are two prompts to help you get going. You can choose one, both, or follow your own adventure. Set a timer for 5 minutes…  Read more

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Daily Art Moment: Katherine Bradford

A small grouping of abstract figures wearing swimsuits stand beneath a small, blue celestial body connected by iridescent light amidst atmospheric color planes of blues, greens, and purples.

“The psychological is a recurring theme that I come back to, and explore what it’s like to be alone, what it’s like to be together, what it’s like to be alone together.” —Katherine Bradford, Artist “One of the works at the Museum that I miss seeing is Katherine Bradford’s Ritual (2017). I find the way…  Read more

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Daily Art Moment: Sally Haley

Yellow onions in a commercial red, mesh bag depicted with a high level of realism and resting against a backdrop of four rectilinear planes in deep, reddish shades.

“Artist Sally Haley shows us the common yet simple elegance of a red mesh bag of yellow onions. Typical of Haley’s work, detailed and simple still-lifes are set against minimal and flat backgrounds. Onions are a common presence in most kitchens, they are a base for many cuisines around the world, building up rich flavors…  Read more