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Featured Artists
Chris Gollon
Christina Leinemann Knittel
Dan Kitchener
Kaori Takamura
Kelly Vivanco
Lenny Moskowitz
MIke Ciccotello
Ryan W Ruehlen
The Powells
Vincent DiMattio
W. Bennett Berry
Will Kasso Condry
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Liquitex Featured Artists
Peter and Maddy Powell
Maui, HI
website:
www.thepowellstudios.com/
Biography
Peter & Madeline Powell live and work on the island of Maui. They have been painting together for over 25 years and usually have 3 to 5 different canvases in varying stages of progress in the studio all the time. Literally trading places between paintings.
When not painting, Peter is a hardcore big wave surfer who’s traveled the world in pursuit of the perfect wave. Madeline is a part time water aerobics instructor & gourmet cook. They have two daughters in college and a giant 130 lb Leonberger puppy named “Tula”.
Statement
The Powells' painting process is truly a collaborative partnership, with the razor edge detail in their paintings becoming a gray fuzzy area when it comes to which one of them painted what part. The gradual evolution of their combined skills started over 25 years ago, when they first discovered their synchronized vision.
Each painting starts with setting up and taking multiple reference photos of the subject matter. They mostly choose to concentrate on close-up, “larger than life” images of everyday things with a bit of a nostalgic feel, i.e. candy, toys, and cars. The reference photos are then analyzed on a light table with a magnifying viewing loop for composition, balance, and over-all “theme”, before the final image is selected. They usually have enough subject matter (as with the candy) to cover a 12 x 16 inch area that is 4 inches deep, and they shoot at least two rolls of film per subject (approximately 72+ photos). They are slowly starting to move into the digital world for taking the reference photos which has the great advantage of not having to wait for processing before they know if they have “the shot”. After the reference photo is chosen, the size of the painting is decided on. Madeline is known for her excellent canvas stretching and stretches all of the canvases, with occasional minimal help from Peter.
Peter and Madeline are both involved in the painstaking layout of each painting, which is completely laid out in graphite on the canvas in detail, showing the shadows and highlights, as well as the folds, crinkles, lettering and reflections. The layout process can take several days, if not weeks, as they play a kind of “tag team” with their graphite pencils. After the painting is laid out, the actual painting process begins with the smooth layering of the base colors, which in some cases is done with an airbrush. This allows for a very “flat” surface foundation without brush strokes. Each color is masked off separately and then the lettering is usually painted in with fine sable brushes. In some cases such as painting the ingredients on a candy wrapper, an old style architectural ruling pen is used which allows you to fill the pen well with paint. With the base colors and lettering complete, the shadows and reflections are painted in, followed lastly with the highlights.
The most time consuming and tedious work is on the paintings that have the “foil” look, such as Hershey Kisses, York Peppermint Patty’s or Hershey Miniatures. These paintings have what the Powells have come to term “the foil factor”. The Powells usually have several paintings in various stages of progress in the studio and literally “trade places”, moving from one painting to the next. On the larger works, they often stand shoulder to shoulder, painting into the wee hours of the morning, fine tuning the detail on these complex paintings.