North Adams Open Studios -

Ed Carson

Artist Statement:

Biography:

Stop my studio to see my work. I'm located at Eclipse Mill Artist Lofts, 243 Union St. (Union St. is Rt. 2), unit 401 (4th floor next to the elevator).

Painting to me is more about the canvas than the subject. The subject is just an excuse to paint. My interests lie in the paint itself. There is a seductive quality I find in paint – the way it moves, how it resists and pushes back against me, how it flows and drips, it’s depth and richness, its surface quality, its wetness. There is dialog between me and the paint, a dance of wills with the outcome always uncertain. This feeling for the paint is what I try to retain in the finished painting. I tend to work quickly as I like the sense of freshness and spontaneity that results when instinct plays a role in the process.

Beyond the paint itself my concerns tend to be structural – the geometry of a painting, the structure of the shapes, the play of positive and negative space, the way edges meet. The use of space is an important element for me as I move objects around the canvas, opening up fields of empty space so I can then deal with that space through the use of color and texture to make it an integral part of the painting. As a painting develops it becomes about the thing and the space around the thing.

The importance of structure in my painting is reinforced with my longstanding practice of using thumbnail drawings as a starting point for all of my work, whether it’s a small still life in oil or a large mural size abstract piece in acrylic. My thumbnails are quickly done repetitive drawings a few inches in size and drawn with fat markers in black and middle gray. This is my foundation, my rock. And it’s the spirit of this thumbnail that I try to get in my painting.

Artist Website:

www.edcarson.com

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