William Clarkson
Recent Paintings and Sculptures
wclarkson@sbcglobal.net
Bend in the river18”x36”, 2022
Past - Present 24”x48”, 2021
Truth & Consequences, 16”x20”
Truth & Consequences #2, 16”x20”
Truth & Consequences #3, 16”x20”
The dazzle paintings
based upon a fragment of an image enlarged 3200%
Life in the Hollywood Hills, 28”x 102”, oil on canvas
Cloud paintings
When i was five years old in 1944.I remember looking up at at the blue sky with scattered puffy clouds.
I imagined seeing a squadron of Army Air Force B-17s heading towards Europe.
Ever since then I have been fascinated by clouds and have made many cloud paintings beginning in 1973 to the present. Here are some of them
Lake Michigan Clouds 36”x60”,oil on canvas,1973
Cloud Reflection 48”x48”
Cloud reflection 2
Clouds on Blue
popcorn clouds, 36”x36”
Betwixt and Between #2, 27”x 92” oil on canvas 2017, revised 2023
Betwixt and Between 25”x92”
Wave structures
I have always been intrigued by wave shapes
and wanted to render the shape as implied motion.
Wave No. 9 24x48” Varnish on Plywood
The Joshua Tree paintings
For many years my partner Doris and I have visited the Joshua TreeNational Park and other deserts in California. We love the desert and its vast sense of scale.
first Joshua Tree visit, 20 x28”
Cholla Garden No. 2, 18”x24”
Family Reunion, 36”x 60”
Territorial Dispute 24”x36”
Cholla Garden 1, 18” x 24”
the Death Valley paintings
Shortly after arriving in back in LA in 1998, Doris and I made a trip to Death Valley which inspire the following series of paintings.
Death valley 1, 24”x48”oil on masonite,1998
Death valley 2, 24”x48”oil on masonite, 1998
Death valley 4, 24”x48”oil on masonite, 1998
Looking East, 24”x48”oil on masonite, 1998
September, 24”x48”oil on masonite, 1998
Nightlight,24”x48”oil on masonite, 1998
Internal landscapes
Landscapes
I have now been drawing and painting for 70 years and while I have explored various styles and media forms I always return to landscape images.
the Dingle peninsula, Ireland,12”x24”,2016
The Garden Path 60”x72” 2021
the waves 2016-2024
Garden Path #2 60”x72” 2022
Green wave 32”x 23” x 5” foam, canvas, paint 2024
Vortex 24”x 24” foam, paint 2016
Artist’s statement
For me it’s always been about color and the movement, implied of course but seeking a musical like animation on a two dimensional plane.This impulse has taken me on a number of different paths, collage, sculpture and video. I always return to paint, oil based paint specifically, which allows me to paint and blendthe painted surface for several days. I paint because I love the physical process of applying it as though it was a sort of a secret cement and I was making a two dimensional object.
The western landscape is my recurring subject of choice. Currently I am making a series of paintings based upon a formal symmetry yet subtle enough that It does not dominate the viewing experience.
William Clarkson, August 2022