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When the temperatures go up, and the Atlanta air is sultry and humid, I don't tend to spend a lot of time outside in the heat.  Maybe an occasional stab at painting plein air in my morning garden, but most of my work of summer finds itself being created in the cool and air-conditioned studio.  But there is the occasional exception when oversized artwork that requires paint flying everywhere must be undertaken outside. My basement studio area has a lower drive outside on the north side of my home.  Perfect for working in the plentiful shade.  

I had sold an oversized work at a local show, and needed to replace the piece.  Having nothing of that size in hand, and keeping the theme of the show going (abstraction/flow work), I needed SPACE.  Down went the plastic covering,  the panel laid out, and paints mixed.  Time to begin.  I have been fascinated with the idea of Atlantis, the legendary civilization that was lost beneath the waves in antiquity.  It seemed a good idea to translate into active color.  Entreating the ghost of Jackson Pollock to join me, I begin to drip color, here, there, splash it, drizzle it, and pretty much put paint all over.  Selecting colors and placing them in random patterning became more deliberate and somehow less random.  As paint began to take the stage on the work, I added flakes of silver leaf, littering the surface. A slight breeze created a sparkling storm of silver fragments, swirling above and around the artwork.  I think about as much stuck as was blown away.  As I was taking a break, a heard a hawk calling, and looked up to a nearby tree where a very large red tailed hawk cocked his head back and forth, as if trying to figure out what that shiny storm below it meant.  Then a June Bug flew in and landed near the art.  We used to catch these green jewels every summer when I was a kid.  Then a very tiny, blue tailed skink lizard skittered across the drive.  Built in entertainment!

When I finished the work, I was pleased with the interpretation of an abstracted Atlantis, swirling beneath the encroaching waves.  It was ready the next day, and now hangs in the show.  Mission accomplished.  What do you think?