This painting that goes back a few years. I was playing around with Brewer’s Blackbirds as stark symbolic subjects. Lacking the stature and mystique of the crow they are nonetheless interesting birds. The strange light ring of their eye… the surreal dark shapes they create in the sky with their multitudes. I dusted this one off recently as it was purchased by my brother in-law as a Christmas gift. I realized I didn’t have a decent photograph so I took a little time to capture one!
I started this painting January 1st. It is going to be a busy year, best get started!
Winter Snow, vacationing in Sandpoint Idaho. Rare non art post!
I am working on more cloud and atmospheric work. This is the latest painting, it is an 18″ x 18″acrylic.
This poor crow electrocuted himself on a poweline in Seattle. My buddy Ryan knows I have a fondness for crows so he gave it to me. I have used it for reference a number of times and then pop it back in the freezer! Ryan’s electric crow has seen better days!
This is another painting with a lot of interesting textural depth. I built up heavy vertical lines with acrylic medium. It also has an undevrcoat of interference pearl that results in a dynamic lighting that you can pick up a bit of in this photograph.
This was the third in a triptich that I did called “Other Spaces”. The images were simple and bleak but interesting, particularly together. I used paint brushes and a 24″ squeegee to create these paintings that are 20″ x 20″ each.
I finished some of the desolate water paintings I started on recently. These are two of the paintings of which I am particularly fond. You can see some interesting surface qualities if you look carefully. These are most noticeable on the first image, particularly along the left side. These odd textural anomalies are my favorite things! These paintings both have deep translucent depth, more than 1/8th inch so the light really moves through the work.
Blue is such a powerful color. I’m continuing my efforts with atmospheric clouds but in a more nocturnal setting. These are two of my most recent works.
Clouds, the mighty transporters of water, are a beautiful presence above. Morphing and shifting they are never the same from moment to moment. Casting darkness as they steal the sun’s light they set the tone, create a mood. There is a meditative quality to clouds, something primitive and soothing. To me painting clouds creates that same hypnotic feeling, I hope the result echoes the creation.
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This was one of a black bird series I was working on a few years ago. Part of that time period where I was creating paintings in unstable ways and letting them crack, run or erode. I liked the idea of a paintings forming with me just guiding the process. I have completely changed the way I paint a number of times since then but it is interesting to look back.
brian sostrom 