I had the sudden impulse to paint my nail polish bottles, carried them into the studio, and then began. The lines and curves of the bottles, and the colorful assortment of these small possessions inspired me. I began thinking about the stuff that we all have, and used artistic license to make each row of polishes a different overall color scheme. Like each row of polishes, there are layers of junk and stuff in our lives. Possessions build up in our homes, and that may be a negative thing, but sometimes all of it together creates a colorful, intriguing complexity in a space.
I paid close attention to shapes and variations in color in this painting, though the colors are not true to life. To prepare, I did a couple swift sketches with oil pastels on newsprint. In the beginning phase, I thought that the acrylic painting looked very ugly. Developing my thoughts and direction as I went, it eventually came together. I like minimalist spaces, but at the same time I also like jumbles of colors and shapes, and dark and light. I’m interested in forms that ground the eye, but also keep it roving.
