My passion is to capture the light that illuminates our surrounding landscape with my paint brush. I am constantly inspired by each new day to bring a response to the canvas by sitting in front of the grand show. I bring to you the colors of an abundant universe transforming itself moment by moment.
I paint and draw in the open air on locations in California and Italy’s
northern Tuscany. My paintings find their inspiration at the same source
as the California colorists, both emotionally and historically. I use
oil paint both on canvas and shaped pieces of marble. I am drawn to seacoast
edges, the light on autumn vines, and soaring mountainsides in both countries.
When my eyes and senses are activated by the converging landscape, I feel
more alive. I become one with nature, with earth, sky, and sea, and paint
from that perspective.
My style of painting is to sit with the land, to return year after year
to see things anew. The meditation of mixing oil colors on a palate is
a continuing source of exitement and invention. I draw my personal feelings
about the landscape and follow the physical patterns with my brush. When
I am this still the energy of the land emerges. The light of the different
seasons speaks a dynamic language to me. With this kind of deep looking,
being under the open sky, I am closer to my own real source of happiness.
My intention is to create images which light up people’s lives and
open them to deeper perceptions.
Kay Carlson Sausalito, 2005
** ** NEW WORK FROM ITALY ****
THE CARRARA MARBLE SERIES
My work with marble originated in the town of Carrara on the north Italian coast of the Mediterranean. Some of the world’s best marble comes from the quarries in the beautiful Apuana Mountains. These stones are from the same marble from which Michaelangelo carved his famous works. Painting with oil on marble sculpture is a new format using ancient materials. Most people today do not realize the Greeks painted on their temples and sculpture.
I paint layers of oil pigment
on faceted shards and thin slices of stone cut in shapes. Painting on
marble is more demanding than canvas, as I have to work with the variances
of veining and color that I find in each piece. Marble is alive, responsive
to the slightest touch or tint. I like the experience of weight, holding
a piece of mountain in my hands. Bases for the sculptures are fashioned
from Honduras Mahogany or Marble.
This shift from easel painting to three dimensions has given my body a
new way to step on the earth. I am influenced by the way mountains dominate
our landscape, both in Italy and California. These pieces bring forward
my sense of space and spirit from earth forms.
Kay Carlson Sausalito, 2005
