Corrected Vision 11 by Leslie Nolan Washington, DC Artist

Corrected Vision 12 by Leslie Nolan

For these two recent paintings I used  scraping tools – palette knives, drywall joint implements, and stir sticks – in the figure, leaving brushwork for the background.

Because scraping results in a less predictable outcome, many “happy accidents” lend immediacy and freshness to the work.  The paints smear together in a totally different way from brushwork, and repeated passes build a texture that lends a rich gravitus of age/history/artifact to what is really a contemporary look.

Also, note the figures are posed in profile, something I generally avoid.  This stiff pose generates a whiff of old-master-hanging-in-a-dark-museum.   It seems void of emotion.  But, combined with scrapes, smears, drips and some wild color, the figure becomes a vessel of possibility.  Perhaps, even intrigue.