LET US LAY THE TABLE Travel Wallet

What's a travel wallet? Why do you need one? We all need more pockets, to be somewhat more organized and just have more access to our stuffs when we travel, especially abroad. This wallet was designed specifically to keep all those things in mind. When opened, it measures 7.87 x 7.87 IN, 7.87 x 3.84 IN when folded. It's big enough for your passport, different currencies, credit cards and a coin pouch because not everything is paper over yonder. This also makes a great gift for those travel beginners!

THE PAINTING:

LET US LAY THE TABLE: Acrylic on canvas, 4 x 2 FT.

I love color. The way it surrounds us, defines us, breathes life to a day with its brilliant blues, the way it greets the evening in refracted hues first on fire then melting to a gentle kiss into night…

In younger years, when I was learning to mix colors, I would look at an object in a room or a blade of grass and imagine tubes of paint in my head then try to match the colors with what I’d learned. I still find it humorous I’d get annoyed if I couldn’t imagine the right combination to make the imaginary colors in my head come to copy the real colors in front of me. I mean, talk about obsessed! But, I love colors.

My paintings are an expression of this love, through pattern and flow. Maybe the viewer can see that? Maybe they can’t. But, what might not known or seen is that a lot of my stencil designs had been made from found objects. For example, these flower patterns here and in other pieces are actually large placemats I bought online. Some of the stencils I use are paper doilies my mom would use on dessert trays during Christmas parties while others bath mats. Sometimes reconstituting found forms is about recalling a memory; other times it’s about representing an idea… in this case, it’s both.

When the colors began coming together on this piece and a pattern began forming, it reminded me of a tablecloth… and, since there were four placemats on the table when I was growing up, this piece practically made itself. And, so, I’ve laid the table on “Let Us Lay the Table”. I hope it’s an enjoyable feast.