for pricing and availability please contact: eddiewhit@hotmail.com

As a young man I developed an interest in lost civilizations, ancient cairns, cave art and Earth Mother Goddess sites.  These two sunken relief paintings are my response to 30,000 year old cave art found in southern France.  Venus of Laussel is invoked in “Earth Mother Goddess Shrine” as vectors of energy appear throughout the painting which is ornamented with spiritually powerful jasper and agate.  In “Hall of Bulls – Lascaux” the patina formed from oxidized iron paint suggests a cave wall. Animals have been chiseled into the wood and painted with oxidized bronze and copper which develops lovely patina in evocative shades of blue and green.

 Earth Mother Goddess       Hall of                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Bulls

 

My feeling for the past is reflected in my choice of medium – the evocative build-up of patina that develops as a result of the oxidation of iron, copper and bronze metal-effects paint.   For the close observer, somber themes of decay and loss can be seen.  In the triptych “Serenity” oxidized bronze paint has been poured onto a background of oxidized copper, all applied to bowed slabs of weathered wood.  In “Eerie Calm” a handheld power saw was utilized to make cuts into a wood plank prior to application of oxidized bronze paint.

  Serenity                          Eerie Calm

 

I collect and tumble semi-precious stones which I use to ornament my paintings and sculptures.  In this sculptural piece “Blue Notes” the verdigris hues of chrysocolla augment the evocative colors of oxidized copper paint.  For those attuned to the spiritual and metaphysical properties of minerals, the chrysocolla exudes positive calming energy and fosters cleansing and self-awareness.

                        blue notes                                      blue notes (detail)

 

I sometimes hand carve wood planks prior to painting, which gives the work a 3D effect and has distant echoes of the bas relief panels chiseled in stone from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Tree of Life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world’s religions and mythologies. It represents a force that connects all lives. It is typically planted at what is believed to be the center of the world, often within a sacred garden or forest.

                                          Tree of Life                       

I seek to capture some of that sense of awe that Mark Rothko’s work evokes and create paintings that transcend the familiar and the merely decorative, and try to infuse the work with anima, the animating force within all living things.   In this whimsical piece “Exuberant” Dr Seuss meets the Wizard of Oz with a mature Judy Garland vamping all that jazz.

                                          Exuberant

                                        the artist at work – chiseling the background for a bas relief tree