Tessera I

By Amy van Helden

This artwork is the first large artwork based on a series of watercolors called "Tiles". "Tessera" is the original word of tile and comes from ancient Greek. This is an acrylic painting on Arches 300 lb watercolor paper. I'm interested in juxtapositions of color, and how colors either come together, or move away from each other. I'm also interested in figure/ground interplay and in surface and texture exploration. I use geometric shapes so that there are no distractions in the way I explore paint. I like to call this style "Chromatic Geometry". In this painting, I have also experimented with the glazing technique to paint the six squares over the red background. Notice that the red background can be perceived slightly under the squares. The artwork is painted on Arches watercolor paper (300 lb mould-made, 100 % cotton). It is incredibly sturdy and there is nothing else like it in the world! As an amazing fact, the Arches paper company was established in France in 1492! Notice the beautiful deckled edge of this paper. The artwork is signed on the bottom right hand corner.