Recently I have been compelled to return to painting on the ovato tondo form. Painting on this form feels as if I can transpose a slice of the universe onto my canvas. It gives me the ability to capture a moment of infinity.

In fact, the calling to this form is so strong, that when I walked into my studio I declared to myself that I couldn’t possibly paint on a rectangular canvas! They are just too angular opposed to the oval which was an eerie visceral reaction to a shape reflecting my inner journey. It was a longing to work in the deeply feminine experience of creating on ovals.

This series is the most critiqued of all my work. Painter Stan Brodsky my mentor called Green & Black (below) spooky and laughed at me (in the best of way) for taking the creative risk to paint abstractly on a shape traditionally known for portraits.

I have had a few negative comments as well from trusted colleagues. This has given me pause, but I kept on painting inside curves.

I am pondering the comments of many of my scientist friends about the organic nature of my work. I will be writing more on this as the discussion continues.
And still, my most recent ovals feel so close to the bone that I need to sit with them and just be for a spell. Then I can let them go out into the world to you.

I was oh so happy to be classed up … I had not a clue about these lovely sounding Italian names for oval and circle. Well, true confessions, it was my art business coach, Alyson B Stanfield, who made the suggestion and added sophistication to my website portfolio. Yes, I will write ovato tondo and tondo with abandon in this blog … don’t you just want to say them out loud? Go ahead, I won’t tell. I have several ovato tondo paintings and only one tondo (circle) painting but, oh, there will be more. I await a calling to the circle form again.

These new ovato tondo works are not on my site yet … awaiting a readiness within me to share this deep work. Professional photographs by Peter Scheer will be next when I am ripe to emerge in ovalness and then they will be launched out! You will be the first to know. I have been painting up a storm of ovals.

Here are some glimpses: