some thoughts in the meantime

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i am a long time oil painter, inspired by the history and riches of the medium. i have

been energized by every age, period and location. from the caves at Lascaux to

Rembrandt through impressionism, abstract expressionism, divisionism, expressionism

and many other isms and artists too numerous to name have all been influences in

my practice.

i am more concerned with creating a feeling in the work, than stylistic consistency

across the board. i have almost always taken inspiration from the world around me,

and for over twenty-five years of painting have explored all manner of representation

from highly detailed life-size figure paintings through still life, interiors, landscape and

urban pieces. and have in the last few years been exploring and incorporating a more

abstract language into some of the work and using abstraction as an initial exploration

into the feelings of place and experience.

for me, the studio is a laboratory, where all manner of mediums and experiments take

place. the materials themselves are exciting to me, and over the years i have washed

my own linseed oil, created my own varnishes and numerous painting mediums based

on historical research. in addition to exploring various surface treatments and different

paint applications i employ and play with a wide variety of tools aside from brushes to

create a rich repertoire of mark-making.

painting, unlike mass media or the commercials which grout it said Robert Hughes is

meant to be viewed one person at a time. in a contemporary context painting and

drawing cannot help but address the speed and saturation of image making and

instantaneous transfer through the very slowness of process. for this very reason my

work does not always lend itself to easy photo documentation - i want it to be seen in

person.

penny eisenberg 2017