Accumulating Cumulus

Accumulating Cumulus

16 x 16"

oil on cradled panel

© Nicki Ault, 2012
sold

This painting took many, many forms. It was always a sky but it began very different to where it ended. Initially I was using my 6 x 6" painting "Three In A Row" as the study but it did not translate to a larger scale. AT ALL! It was very boring and did not have the same fun, quirky edge to it that I enjoy in "Three In A Row". I decided to use those three cloud shapes to build an all over cloud formation above the horizon line, but it still left quite a vast blue sky. I thought about some of the sights I love about big prairie skies and one is the amassing of clouds in the distance; when they kind of pile up and build on top of each other and you know that eventually they will head your way even if the sky above you is clear at that moment. So that is where this painting ended up. I wish I took photos along the way, but I didn't realize the road this composition would travel! Here is a detail shot of where the original three clouds were...

 and also a picture of "Three In A Row"...

I have been processing my experience with Abstract Expressionism over the last week. I will begin writing about it very soon. Yesterday I took photos of all of the paintings I created during the class because it was a perfectly overcast day to do just that. I have to crop and file them, then I will take a deep breath and share them!