Soothing Ocean 2

itle: Soothing Ocean 2

Size: 25 inches x 36 inches x 1 3/8 inch deep acrylic on canvas

A bar of soap and the artist Mark Rothko – together, these inspired this painting. A simple bar of soap with two layers of color, a sandy tan and an aqua blue, sitting in a palm tree soap dish in my bathroom. I thought of the ocean and the soothing effect it has on me. This lead me to reflect on the paintings of Rothko and I immediately recognized a similarity to the soap and also a soothing effect. Combine the two and you get a series of Soothing Ocean paintings. This is the second one that I’ve created. The original hangs in my bedroom, offering a soothing sleep atmosphere. I feel that I’ve improved on the original with white textural hints at ocean surf and motion, but the painting is still strictly abstract with no attempt to paint defined details of an ocean. It’s very textured, and in that respect is very unlike the smooth Rothko paintings. Read more about it and see a photo of the soap on my blog post about the Soothing Ocean series.