W is for Whale
NOVEMBER 12, 2012
"Gilded" | Acrylic & oil on wood panel | 96" x 40"
The W is one of the hot spots of Austin, having not just the premiere hotel and residence location downtown but also serving as the new studio/concert hall for Austin City Limits, the world famous venue that's provided 38 years of great music on PBS. I live only blocks away and have seen countless shows there since its opening two years ago, and the outdoor concerts in their patio area as well as the Willie Nelson statue draw visitors in to the already vibrant 2nd Street District.
I've never found it easy to part with a painting, particularly one so much energy is invested in, but in this case I can drop in and visit the whale whenever I'm downtown.
"Abacus" | acrylic & oil on wood panel | 60" x 36"
The whale went up a few months back and has led to several more large scale commissions. The piece above, "Abacus", is one of those, and it's been fun both to work in this larger scale—I've discovered that I do every bit as much detail when the piece is large!—and to work with this conceptual process, which typically involves viewing a space and then thinking about what might suit the environment. It's open-ended as far as content, but presents a new set of challenges as far as scale and place. I've got another large piece (48" x 96") underway right now, so I'm happy to say there'll be more to come.
Miss Lucy Stout visits the whale.
© 2024 Marc Burckhardt