Attention to Detail by Linda Carmel

Having a Featured Artist show at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts is an opportunity to present a new body of work. I love to work in series using different themes, and for my new show I have continued with my theme of Women in the World, using idioms as inspirations. This year I have brought more global influences into the mix.  I have looked at style design details from around the world, using them in each of the paintings in this series. In some of the paintings you will see tartans, and in others I have used designs based on African kuba cloth. Some of my paintings are inspired by molas from Panama and some by Aboriginal dream paintings. Another is based on Asian silkscreen painting.

Women and their unique cultural designs and idioms are the puzzle pieces I begin with in each piece. Even though I begin each painting with this set of information, it is my attention to detail in the painting as it progresses that becomes dominant. My work involves finding a balance of color and form using the puzzle pieces that begin the piece. Sometimes the women become the dominant image of the painting, and in others it is the abstract design that dominates the piece. I work with acrylic modeling paste that I form on canvas to create my three-dimensional paintings. I want viewers to become intimate with the painting by feeling the contours of the surface.

The show, Attention to Detail, is showing at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts, 121 D N. Churton Street, Hillsborough from July 22nd through August 24th.  The Opening Reception is Friday 25th July from 6 – 9 pm. More of Linda’s work may be seen at her website.