Bursting Barriers

This is the cover of a new book: "Rethinking Acrylic: Radical Solutions for Exploiting the World's Most Versatile Medium", by Patti Brady. -The world's most versatile medium? Some artists might quibble with that subtitle, but Brady uses acrylic in so many ways, it seems plausible...



Acrylic paint is a modern invention, part of the post-war plastics revolution (click here to read a previous post on that topic). While more traditional media such as oils and watercolors have been studied for centuries, we have had only the last few decades to play with acrylic paint. And yet, with creative minds and adventurous spirits, chemists and artists alike have pushed this new substance in exciting ways.




One of the most adventurous artists I know is Meg Bernstein, of Saranac Lake. Meg has embraced multiple media through the years, from fabric and beads to watercolor to computer art - and, always, acrylic. Her landscapes move with fluid, harmonious shapes and colors, leading the viewer to a fantasy world recognizably related to the Adirondacks, but brimming with previously unimagined possibilities. Meg also steps easily from the representational to the abstract; sometimes her paintings blur that line. Recently, Brady's book has been inspiring her to lots of new experiments.

Meg is a teacher and mentor to many artists, both formally at Paul Smiths College, and informally as an inspiring friend and advisor. Several years ago she took me under her wing, and taught me more about art than any three people I had ever known before; I continue to seek her guidance whenever I am perplexed.

Like now. I LOVE the ideas set forth in Brady's book - she uses color, texture, shape, and line with abandon, flinging forth materials and letting them take her where they want to go. She creates innovative surfaces for ink-jet printing, and incorporates these into larger pieces. She pours, drips, scrapes, carves, slathers, and crackles her way through her art.

So does Meg!

But I have trouble achieving the joyful release of their work. I have generally created representational art - which I still enjoy - but I am trying to increase my fluency with color, shape, and texture through acrylics. I am striving to break my own barriers of ideas and intention, to let the medium itself direct my work to a greater degree.

Meg is a master at this - when I see her work, I am encouraged - and challenged! And fortunately, she maintains a permanent (but always changing!) display at the Adirondack Artists Guild here in Saranac Lake. And, together with Lee Ann Sporn, she has a show opening at the Cantwell Community Room of the Saranac Lake Free Library on May 27th. (Click here and here to read earlier posts about Lee Ann's work.) When that show is up, I will write about it here.

In the meantime, I will continue to experiment, explore, and try to relinquish a degree of control in my work. It's not easy - but what of value is? Through this journey, I am relying on Patti Brady's new book, and on the dazzling work and solid insights of Meg Bernstein.