Aili Kurtis
My Inspiration
As an artist I am never bored. I look around in awe of the world that surrounds me and see patterns and rhythms everywhere. Beyond the world of appearance, I sense a vibrational force that can only be described as the “vital impetus” of nature. My inspiration comes from experiencing this life force both consciously and intuitively. It is in this state of awareness that I begin to paint and strive to portray the underlying vibrations of nature.
My Design Strategy
To depict this vibrational energy, I chose to design my painting as a basic circle positioned just off center in the lower quadrant of the canvas to suggest a rising or setting sun. After creating an effect of light radiating from a central source (the sun), I carefully positioned straight vertical lines (tree trunks) and arcs (branches) to contrast with the circle. The light located in the center of the circle progressively changed to darkness; warm colours inside the circle evolved into cool colours. By applying paint in multiple dabs and dots of varying sizes, I enhanced the feeling of radiating units of energy that flowed in both a circular motion as well bursting outwards.
My Working Process
Before I started painting I made a thumbnail sketch of the composition, which I taped to my easel so that I could remind myself of the original design. I felt it was important to paint this image large enough to make a powerful impact and chose a 40-by-40inch canvas. I used acrylic paints because they dry very quickly and let me create subtleties by multi-layering. After staining the canvas yellow, I blocked in the painting with shades of Payne’s grey. Once the “notan” composition had landed into place, I dotted in colours paying special attention to complementary colors. I repeatedly toned down and homogenized all the colors by applying yellow glazes over the whole canvas. Afterwards I strengthened the darks and brightened some colors until the image “popped.”
Contact Details
Email: ailikurtis@hotmail.com Website: ailikurtis.fineartstudioonline.com