Art and Soul – Blue Print art show
Thursday, March 7th, 2013Mark your calendars for March 15th and 16th! One of my favorite design stores, Blue Print, is hosting an art show that features art couple, Signe and Genna Grushovenko.
After reading their resume in preparation to share this event with you, I’ve fallen in love with this couple’s technique. Born of a love of old posed photographs, Signe and Genna combine both abstract and figurative techniques to create a finished product with high emotional content.
In Signe’s words, here is their unique process of collaboration…
“Partners in both life and art, Genna and I have been collaborating for nearly ten years.
Our process begins when Genna creates rich, tonal underpaintings on supports of primed linen, canvas, or Masonite. The underpaintings start with a layer of acrylic color, sometime sprayed, sometimes rolled, sometimes brushed. Once the acrylic layer is dry, he applies small amounts of oil pigment mixed with copious amounts of mineral spirits. The colors are applied wetly with house paint brushes with the canvas standing. The canvas is then rotated and more layers are applied and allowed to run into one another. When satisfied with the design and palette of each individual piece, Genna lays it on its back and allows it to dry.
When I am ready to paint, I go to my supply of underpainted supports and select one. I then choose an image from my collection of vintage photos that will mesh well with the style and palette of the underpainting. Using the photo as reference, I execute a drawing in oil pastel and complete the painting in oil.
Collaborating with Genna has influenced my work in many ways, pushing me to work with textures and colors I would have never chosen for myself. The final results of our art partnership are multi-layered paintings with deep surfaces, crisp at first glance but rewarding the careful viewer with an undercurrent of complex tonality and colorplay.
I am grateful to Genna for bringing to my work the same sweet richness he’s brought to my life. ~Signe ”
I cannot wait to see this exhibition in the beautiful surroundings of Blue Print! I plan to go on the 16th… Please join me!
