Niki - Artist

Public art feels so very expansive to me night now, both in the surprises and the quest. I get frustrated to not be painting two dimensionally and it feels like nothing makes sense.. and then… I step back and see that the same me that I’ve painted with forever, has actually been involved! I’m enjoying this new way to know an old friend. Here are some snapshots of my 5’ maquette in the studio in the moment I stepped back and ‘saw it’.

This painting was created in two parts, beginning with me working in acrylic and ending with in oil. Material requirements (oil over acrylic) clarified how we would approach our collaboration. And, the process was so rich for both of us, we’ll be collaborating again.. THANK YOU McLean & Eleana .creative.arts & for including us in LAnd SEA. The lineup is so full of good friends and new friends and I am thanking some lucky stars.
Here’s our statement:
Niki: When starting this painting, I was afforded the chance to think about who would be tending to it after me and it was my great fortune that it would be Drie. While I was working, I got to think about her abundant nature and playfulness and lush brushwork and I wanted her to have a beautiful, expansive environment to play in. I kept spaciousness at the forefront of my mind and felt that a soft color palette would allow Drie’s choices to vibrate.

Drie:Working off of Niki’s under painting provides a frame work in which to imagine my world. As options of images come to mind I keep in mind where Niki’s work began and choose to hold to the frame of her work. While shifting the focus of the work from its original distant horizon to an intimate sensual relationship with Niki’s complex natural landscape I felt my paint supported by hers and vice versa. How beautiful to relate through our marks and intentions.