Mixed Media:Abstract, Informal Painting with Materials

Contemporary Art with Rich Texture

Design pictures with material

It was the painting “Hekuba” by the great Emil Schumacher at the Pinakothek der Moderne that led me to informal painting—sometime in 2002. Before that, I had just been strolling through the museum, and then I saw this one “material painting” that hit me right in the gut with full force.

For my mixed-media works—which involve the use of various materials—I use ash, sand, pigments, ground rock, wax, paper, coffee, charcoal, and other materials that add texture. They all lend the artworks a different texture and tactile quality than pure acrylic or oil paint could. I apply the paint and materials to the canvas very wet. The drying process requires patience—and the result is often surprising, because the materials sometimes react quite differently than expected.

What I like best is when the images look rough and textured, when it seems as though all that rich material is just loosely resting on the canvas and about to fall off—which, of course, doesn’t happen.

Art historian Dr. Ingrid Gardill wrote two highly recommended articles for my catalogs about the impact of my “material paintings.” Feel free to read them now:
Abstract painting with pigments and material in mixed media (mixed media)