Acrylic staining and heavy body paint, on stretched, raw jute over wooden bars. 8x16 inches (framed in a white, non-wooden floating frame)
 
The landscape of our nation has changed considerably from when I was a child in the late 60’s, with the most changes it seems happening in the last 10 years or so. The fabric of our lives has gotten so complicated and interwoven and as Americans, we are all intersecting in unexpected ways, either being beautiful, chaotic or even hateful. My painting titled “Raw” reflects this statement to me. I chose to paint on raw, stretched jute by first pouring an acrylic stain layer in derivatives and hues of red and blue. I then overpainted with heavy body acrylic paint, using the stain lines as
a guide, and trying to make order out of the chaos of the free formed staining process, by making more defined shapes, but leaving the staining to shine through in areas. I believe the overall feeling of this painting hits the point of beauty and chaos coexisting at once - and it conveys, and I dare say provokes, an overall feeling of the times we live in today as Americans.