Artist Statement

In my recent work, I’m interested in processes and textures in nature and how I can recreate those as I paint. I take photographs that capture lines, droplets of water, or the colors in shadows and leaves. I also reference vintage botanical illustrations for my mark making as well as live plants and dried petals and leaves.

As I make abstract marks on the canvas and then slowly move to realism in my foliage, I’m painting my observations. The pools of color beneath reflect movement and the passage of time so there is a build up of history with the many layers. I mix my colors, pour the paint, and have to wait as the water moves the pigment and finally dries in an organic form that I can’t control. I may do this a few times before I begin drawing or making marks.

In other pieces I may not use pools of color at all and simply begin drawing. These pieces I focus very much on the composition and the abstracted forms derived from a stem spliced in half, a side view of a bloom, or seed pod as seen in botanical illustrations. These are often deconstructed petals and plants arranged not realistically, but in way that draws your eye in a dance around the canvas. I began to think of theses compositions as lilting and almost musical; letting petals and color fall into spacious and relaxing forms on the canvas.

Sarah McInroe