TOM FRIESE ART

For the past several years I have been focusing on abstract paintings in two mediums, oil and cold wax and more recently acrylic/mixed media. Many of the
paintings elude to landscapes with or without a horizon line. Some are totally non objective. Regardless of medium, the paintings have many layers, using strong primary colors as textures build.
As the Covid Year (2020) slogged on, my paintings changed. No longer were they “at rest”. They became more active and primal. I carved into the layers of paint excavating forgotten colors. They looked subterranean. I loved OCW but became inpatient with the drying time.
In summer 2021 I switched to acrylic. I could apply layers upon layers of paint in a short time. I continued to carve with old dental tools.
My MFA is in printmaking. I love the feel of rag paper, its absorbency, color and
deckled edge. I started coating Arches Buff paper with 8-10 layers of acrylic medium. While it increased the weight of the paper, I could savagely scrape and carve into the paint surface. My work changed to horizontal lines, rapidly applied with squeezes, the paint both opaque or translucent. I began working on canvasses to increased size. I was on a roll.
One morning I entered my studio. Completed paintings filled the walls. I sat and looked at six month’s work. I felt the paintings did not belong to me. I had to slow down, reduce the colors and frenetic movement. All the work came off the walls and were stacked so I could only see the backs. It was a time of reflection and contemplation. I cleaned my studio. I went to galleries and museums. Enjoyed long walks and gradually returned to my studio.
I continued to prepare the Arches Buff paper. I began each painting with a large black geometric shape (the sum of all color) and a large white geometric shape (the absence of all color). I added one primary color. The BLACK+WHITE series began. The negative space became very important. The buff color of the paper was the perfect ground. The work was intentionally minimal. Every line, shape, texture, placement of color took days to reveal.
Current work continues the minimalism. There may be only one large geometric shape painted in one of the primary's. Pinstripe lines are thin and mostly straight providing to structure the image, almost making an architectural drawing. I no longer use Arches Buff paper. I prime the wood panels with the buff color or sometimes white or a neutral gray.
The BLACK+WHITE series were identified and titled with only a number keeping them totally non objective. Now paintings have descriptive names in place of numbers. These titles come after the piece is completed. With any abstract painting the viewer always wants to find an image they can recognize: a scene, people, a sail boat, an experience. I often asked “What is it?”. My reply, “what do you see”. Now after the viewer reads the title, “Oh, yea. I see it”