Autumn in Oregon inspires nature-based abstract paintings

Lake Oswego, Oregon, December 2, 2011 - Emerging artist David Trowbridge shows his most recent paintings at the Lakewood Center for the Arts.  These paintings explore what the artist calls “the space between representation and abstraction”.  The colors of autumn foliage and luminous gray skies familiar to Oregonians are the basis for these paintings.  The exhibition is open from January 3rd through February 20th.  The center is open weekdays from 9:00 to 5:00, Saturday 10:00 to 4:00, and two hours before curtain on performance days.  They are located at 368 S. State Street, Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Fat, drippy, brightly colored brush strokes represent vegetation in the lower regions of the paintings.  These marks squirm and wiggle under skies that range from calm, atmospheric patches of spray paint to violent splashes and drips of acrylic.  In his paintings everything is built, or re-imagined, in paint.  There is no attempt at replicating what was seen.  “I’m not a camera.” offers the artist, explaining his process.  “Painting involves the elements of time and interpretation”.

“It’s important for me that my paintings reflect my time and place.” says the artist. Local flora, although simplified and abstracted, imbues his paintings with an Oregon Sensibility; one of the criteria used by the jury of the 2011 Oregon State Fair to describe winning applicants.  The painter also uses modern materials like acrylic, latex, and spray paints as well as tools more often found at construction sites.