Alex K. Mason

Landscape Painting with Heron, Ink Acrylic Gouache on paper, Blue, Orange, Green

My work is inspired by the plants, flowers, birds, insects, colors, and patterns found in the natural world. I want to convey the kinetic movement of particles in the wind, clouds, and phases of growth where all living things are intertwined together. I often look at books on horticulture, birds, the cosmos or my old paintings as a reference, without a specific idea of what I want the final work to look like. Then I begin to paint. Color is my passion and sets the mood for each composition. My design work as well as previous paintings often influence the direction of the color pallet. Over the years, I have developed my own iconography of orbs, particles, plants, berries, and other forms, which has become the foundation of all my work. My paintings are about the messy loose process of laying ink, acrylic and gouache to paper, canvas, or board. This conscious and unconscious process of applying each stroke, drip or splatter, flows through me to reveal an unpredicted painting. It is a meditation on color, shape, form and composition. The built up layers in my paintings expose all of the traces and phases which are in the continuum. These accidental drips, washes, and splatters give depth and atmosphere to compositions intended to express beauty, originality and authenticity. My paintings are bold in their imperfections and abundance of exaggerated interpretations of nature.