It’s not a sunny day, but the world offers beauty anyway. Sometimes a little mist on your nose is just the right thing. With layers of impasto and glazing, this painting glows from within. The heavy impasto- a technique of laying on paint so thickly that it stands out from a surface- adds character and form.
Arnica Grace has been known to use painting knives- a flexible metal blade. This device helps her to put down the thick paint she likes to see in some of her larger works. This being a Big Big Sky, she uses the painting knife with gusto! Energy and form, peace and activity, layers of color sing in a unique harmony.
Collections begin with one piece. This is a good cornerstone for the foundation of your own art empire. Enjoy!
Anna is a finely shaded and modeled oil painting. Arnica describes the shallow space in the painting with a free hand and broad brushstrokes. Depth and dimension is achieved with transparency and color blending. This small work, about 12″x 16″ was painted at Austin Visual Arts Association studios.
This wispy elfin daydreamer will capture your heart and dreams too! Traditional oil painting layering and glazing produce rich tones and highlights. Produced at Austin’s Visual Arts Association studio, this work is sure to brighten up any space.
So much depends upon A red wheel barrow Glazed with rain water Beside the white chickens. -William Carlos Williams As the weather warms not so gently here in Austin, wheelbarrows are, indeed, important articles for moving piles of compost and leaf mulch to prepare new garden beds. Time to get planting! Painting and growing are so connected in Arnica's work. Each is a labor of love. Each hopes to produce a beautiful final product. In both cases, the result is far from certain, and takes hard work and dedication to the effort. Time for a last little vacation before the real work of springtime comes on, Arnica Grace will soon leave on a journey of fun and hopefully some self-discovery. Maybe a caribbean cruise will shake the dust off the ol' girl. Cheers!
Austin has a ton of places to ramble around in, but you will find Arnica always coming back to Zilker Park for the Botanical Gardens. Even midwinter, there are birds, bees, and flowers, oh my!
When asked why she liked the Zilker Botanical Gardens so much, Arnica replied, “the first time Ithe cedar log bridge in the Japanese garden there, I must have been all of about fourteen years old. It was magical, it was marvelous, it was my first love. Rambling in the park found me face to face with the koi in the ponds, their glittery bodies sleekly swimming in the depths. I painted them with the first set of oil paints I had ever owned. It was fulfilling, fun, it was my first time to really see what paint could do for me.
Going back to the park lately, I went to the bridge. I climbed it again, slipping a bit, just as I had the first time. I visited the koi. They are truly monstrous these days, as large as my legs, boiling and roiling under the surface of the water, looking for the food the groundskeeper surely throws into the pond for them.
It was glorious, I am glad to have lived a life in the arts. I made a painting of the koi again, couldn’t help it really.”
So, if you keep your eyes peeled, you might run into Arnica rambling through the gardens again this springtime. A recent joiner to the Plein Air Austin organization, she says she hopes to enjoy their monthly meetups.
