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RECENT ABSTRACTS| FLORALS | LANDSCAPES | MONOTYPES | BONES | RAGGEDY ANN | BIRDS | LIGHT ENERGY | FOUR ELEMENTS | TIBET | PAINTINGS OF INDIA l WATERCOLORS/COLLAGES

"Four Elements"
Water, Fire, Earth, Sky

The series displayed here started in the summer of 2005. The images are coming from my concern for global warming - Katrina, tsunami's, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, extreme fires, flooding from abnormal rains and glacial melting which are intensifying.

I decided to work on heavy gessoed paper which would allow me to create grooves and embedded lines in the surface; the same as etching into a metal plate. I wanted to create a linear effect that had texture and would hold color over laid with layers of oil painting. A wood burning tool was used to create the grooves and thin lines. Next I applied high quality oil paints with rags and palette knives wiping away the paint to create areas of light and subtle color.

Many of these small oils will become larger paintings. I feel they are little reminders of the beauty of our earth and messages to us about our planet. - Dinah Cross James