Featured Artist Merinda Crowder

Artist Merinda Crowder presents a collection of botanicals and landscapes created with a spontaneous fluid painting process. See more of her portfolio by visiting her website.

 

 

As a young child, I was surrounded by the stunning beauty of nature. At an early age, I developed the understanding that we are not in nature; we are nature. This deep belief is the underlying pin to my life and my art. Knowing this is key to connecting to the wellspring of creativity that resides within.

 

 

When I first commenced painting, I used brushes, but immediately felt restricted and limited. There was no natural creative flow for me, so I started experimenting using other tools. One day I came across the work of artist David Siqueiros and his technique of accidental painting, which today is more widely known as “pouring.” Fluid acrylic painting allowed my true creative soul to spring free. Liberation on the canvas was had.

 

 

There is unpredictability when working in fluid art, which itself is exciting and inspiring. In the flow of the paint there is freedom, an embracing of the capriciousness of the journey on the canvas.

 

 

I always have a vision with each piece of art I create. However, as a fluid artist I allow the paint to determine line and color, acting as a co-creator who interprets what is naturally occurring on the canvas.

 

 

I’ve developed special techniques to add control to the serendipity of the paint. Using these, I’m able to form complex landscapes and botanical images. Each result is a harmonious balance of the planned and the unexpected, a combination of two opposites. I have created a distinctly personal style of fluid art.

 

 

My landscapes and botanicals are expressions of the visible macroscopic world we so readily see and understand around us. The world, however, is made of that which we can see and that which while present is invisible to the naked eye. The invisible is the microscopic world, and it makes the whole visible.

 

 

My abstract paintings are interpretations of the hidden life within my landscapes and botanicals. Complex patterns and bold compositions are juxtaposed at times against the soft-flowing themes of the micro world. Always present is the infinite array of vivid and muted colors that come together. They provide a look into life’s amazing complexity and offer the viewer time to contemplate how the microscopic world is relevant to our everyday lives and how it touches each of us personally.

 

 

I paint from a source of joy and believe this translates through to my art.  My goal is to create a pathway for the viewer to connect with the very essence of nature and life through interaction with my fluid artwork.

 

Merinda Crowder invites you to follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

 

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