Melissa Shaak

"Big Reds", contemporary, abstract, yellow, acrylic painting

2020

Melissa Shaak’s “Hoopla” is a 40 x 26 inch abstract acrylic painting on top-quality Arches paper. Large red and pink shapes sit atop spindly legs against...

Melissa Shaak’s “Easements” is a 40 x 26 inch abstract acrylic painting on top-quality Arches paper. Pastel blues and reds play off each other in curvilinear sections, one atop the n...

Melissa Shaak’s “Nectar” is a 40 x 26 inch abstract acrylic painting on top-quality Arches paper. The small orange beak at the center of the painting evokes a creature taking nectar....

Melissa Shaak’s “Pirouette” is a 40 x 26 inch abstract acrylic painting on top-quality Arches paper. An elegant, elongated swath of red and pink appears poised to dance with a triang...

Melissa Shaak’s “Fiesta Road” is a 40 x 26 inch abstract acrylic painting on top-quality Arches paper. A bright red lantern-shaped structure is the focal point of this festive scene....

Melissa Shaak’s “Reds and Blues 1” is a 30 x 22 inch abstract acrylic painting on top-quality Stonehenge paper. Red-accented, patterned islands appear to...

A set of 12 original mixed media monotype and painting mixed media works by American contemporary artist Monica Angle. These pieces were inspired by the changing light throughout th...

Ky Anderson Feelers, 2019 pigment and acrylic on paper 72 x 84 in. (and272ap) This original painting on paper by Ky Anderson features bold shapes and curving lines in saturated shad...

Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 50.8 x 40.6 cms (20 x 16 ins) This collage includes a fragment of a 1985 print, Burning Sun. Although Motherwell signed...

The discipline of creating a drawing each day is a process, like a written diary, to clear the mind, to declutter thoughts, and to observe patterns. It is a method that allows the mind a freedom to wander and drift. A visual journal becomes a safe space for personal reflection–a self-awareness fueled by the opportunity for contemplation and immersion. The painted surface for the drawings was created by dividing five large paintings into 40 separate pieces. I chose five paintings from my Perspective Series (1993-94), which relied on day-to-day imagery that narrated a story about shifting time and how time anchors our day. The brush strokes of Perspectives are fluid, with muted colors – moving from deep blacks to taupe whites. Dividing these pieces was a means for me to rethink ideas and recurring images in my older work. The very thin gold leaf applied to each piece has a wonderful amber tone. This gold leaf is from Myanmar, where it is used as decoration for Buddha or for the dome of a temple or monastery. In the drawings, the gold element relates to the sense of infinity – like the sky in an enclosed courtyard. An architectural element is a critical component in my studio work that I wanted to carry over into these pieces. I envisioned a courtyard–a safe space that opens up to the sky. Unfolding circles define the beginnings of an open interior space. The process felt open-ended. It was an opportunity to get lost in thought and to give me an opportunity to reflect, muse and declutter my thinking. Then repeat. 40 days...

*Card pictured after painting not included. Dongkuk Ahn (1937-2013), better known as Don Ahn, was a South Korean artist and t'ai chi master who resided in New York City. Don Ahn (A...

acrylic on paper