Description
From Observation to Re-Imagining
Rising Tide – Dana Point Re-Imagined explores the meeting point between observation and invention. While rooted in a California coastline observed through plein-air painting, the work gradually moves beyond direct observation through drawing, printmaking, painting, and repeated reinterpretation. Rather than simply depicting a familiar location, the work records its continual transformation.
I began the work with a plein-air study accompanied by photographs taken on location. A pastel drawing expanded the original painting before becoming the basis for a mixed-media process involving monoprinting, acrylic painting, pastel, and stencil mark-making on archival Arches watercolor paper. Each stage left visible traces that became part of the final image rather than being concealed beneath later layers.
Building the Surface
The surface grows from the interaction of several distinct forms of mark-making. Traditional brushwork is juxtaposed with monoprint textures and both geometric and organic stencil impressions. The stencils are not decorative additions but another expressive language, contributing rhythm, movement, and visual tension alongside the brushstroke. Together these methods create a landscape that remains recognizable. At the same time, they embrace the expressive freedom found in modern and contemporary painting.
Process and Discovery
Each stage presented new decisions as the painting gradually revealed its own direction. Every layer transformed what came before, requiring the work to evolve rather than simply accumulate techniques. The final image records that process of observation, response, and discovery.
Re-Imagined Landscapes Series
Part of the Re-Imagined Landscapes series, Dana Point Re-Imagined reflects an ongoing investigation into how contemporary mixed-media processes can extend the language of landscape painting while remaining grounded in direct experience of place
View more works in my Re-Imagined Landscape Series in our Mixed Media Gallery.
Keep up with my latest work on Instagram @ronreekers.
Watch detail art ‘do it yourself” video I’ve produced at YouTube.com/@rreekers
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For additional studio insights, behind-the-scenes artwork development, and ongoing creative projects, visit my Patreon page.
