Tamara Gonda
Artist Statement:
I call myself a colorist. Color is the life of my paintings. The work flows between watercolor, encaustic/coldwax and acrylics, touching on many temperaments. The one thing they all have in common is the vitality of color.
Lyrical-Abstract
I used to produce mainly Color Field and Abstract Expressionist works. After my first trip to Paris, having visited Monet’ s Musee de Orangerie and his painting backdrops, my work changed dramatically. It changed into what I call my Lyrical-Abstracts, a series of richly colored paintings with a defined subject matter of landscapes, or dreams of landscape.
Watercolor
I have never painted anything close to realism before. I never even imagined myself painting realism before. And yet here I am painting the sights that I have visited, mostly from travels to national parks in the West and Northwest. I enjoy remembering our family time through my paintings.
I've come to enjoy the beauty of watercolors that mirror the fluidity of the water, and at times lack of control of water. That is what I enjoy most of all, the controlled chaos of the water/paint flow. Watercolors seem to be a world away from my home of abstract painting; they are really a cousin to it. The color once again is what really draws me in.
Abstracts
Modern Abstract painting is my home. My paintings are about color and also the process of painting. I like peeling back the layers of the painting, and seeing the history of the piece. My paintings start their life with an under painting, usually consisting of a colorful pattern, many of the impressions derive from quilt patterns. I have always loved quilts and the colors and structure that tie them together. When I paint and scrap away the layers of paint, you can sometimes see a new structure of the old imagery left for you to find and enjoy. And sometimes the process of painting leaves no imagery of the old quilt pattern, never to be seen again. But it is all about the process and the act of painting. My abstracts are all about color, the play of color against other hues and tones, and the flow of the pure bold texture of paint. I need the connection between paint, color, lines, shapes, and texture that abstract painting lets me play with.
I call myself a colorist. Color is the life of my paintings. The work flows between watercolor, encaustic/coldwax and acrylics, touching on many temperaments. The one thing they all have in common is the vitality of color.
Lyrical-Abstract
I used to produce mainly Color Field and Abstract Expressionist works. After my first trip to Paris, having visited Monet’ s Musee de Orangerie and his painting backdrops, my work changed dramatically. It changed into what I call my Lyrical-Abstracts, a series of richly colored paintings with a defined subject matter of landscapes, or dreams of landscape.
Watercolor
I have never painted anything close to realism before. I never even imagined myself painting realism before. And yet here I am painting the sights that I have visited, mostly from travels to national parks in the West and Northwest. I enjoy remembering our family time through my paintings.
I've come to enjoy the beauty of watercolors that mirror the fluidity of the water, and at times lack of control of water. That is what I enjoy most of all, the controlled chaos of the water/paint flow. Watercolors seem to be a world away from my home of abstract painting; they are really a cousin to it. The color once again is what really draws me in.
Abstracts
Modern Abstract painting is my home. My paintings are about color and also the process of painting. I like peeling back the layers of the painting, and seeing the history of the piece. My paintings start their life with an under painting, usually consisting of a colorful pattern, many of the impressions derive from quilt patterns. I have always loved quilts and the colors and structure that tie them together. When I paint and scrap away the layers of paint, you can sometimes see a new structure of the old imagery left for you to find and enjoy. And sometimes the process of painting leaves no imagery of the old quilt pattern, never to be seen again. But it is all about the process and the act of painting. My abstracts are all about color, the play of color against other hues and tones, and the flow of the pure bold texture of paint. I need the connection between paint, color, lines, shapes, and texture that abstract painting lets me play with.
