paintings > street lights
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This series of monochromatic, black and white street lights came about at a time when I was deeply entrenched in experimenting with materials and techniques. The Great Recession was in full-swing and life was full of grit, determination and beauty (where you could find it). I had started to draw street lamps in color, but my color palette began to feel inappropriate.
For this version of my Olympic Boulevard Bridge street light painting, I worked from photographs I had taken while visiting the old Beaux Art bridge over the LA River. I sprayed atomized ink over a hand-cut stencil and then applied silver leaf to large swaths of the drawing. To achieve the mid tones, I applied gunpowder and burned it off. The result was a painting both glowing and gritty. Fun and messy. Just like life was at that time.
12K gold leaf halos top off this painting - my Los Angeles angels, glowing in the darkness.