Alexandrya Eaton
INGE'S PEONIES
acrylic on canvas
48 x 48 in.
unframed
$3,100
END OF THE SEASON
acrylic on canvas
40 x 82 in.
unframed
$3,800
DARK RED TULIPS
acrylic on canvas
36 x 48 in.
unframed
$2,500
MY DAUGHTER'S DRESS
acrylic on canvas
40 x 30 in.
unframed
$1,800
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ROYAL IRIS
TULIPS ON A BLUE CHAIR
SPRING BOUQUET
SUNFLOWERS WITH REDS
LUSCIOUS BOUQUET
YELLOW TULIPS ON PINK
YELLOW FLOWERS AND FACES
SIX FACES
WILD RED WITH FACES
OUTSIDE THE BUTTERFLY HOUSE
SELF PORTRAIT
LATE SUMMER FLOWERS - ODE TO PHILIP
BOUQUET IN A CHINA POT
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PURPLE DELPHINIUMS |
RED TULIPS |
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TULIPS IN A YELLOW POT |
COBALT BLUE VASE WITH FLOWERS |
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TEA CUP WITH RED FLOWER |
PINK IN GREEN |
RED IN CUP |
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WHITE AND BLUE DRESS |
GREEN SMOCKED DRESS |
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WHITE ORCHID |
LIGHT WHITE |
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BOUQUET IN GREEN WITH CITRUS AND FILODENDRON
acrylic on canvas
48 x 60 in.
unframed
$3,100
LITTLE SOLDIERS |
BABY FACE |
BABY FACE (INSTALLED) |
AlexanDRYA Eaton has been exhibiting her paintings throughout New Brunswick since graduating from Mount Allison University with a BFA in 1991. Further afield, her work has been enjoyed in Quebec, Ontario, Newfoundland, PEI, Nova Scotia and Washington DC.
Drya's interpretations and presentations of the flower, have been the subject and dynamo of her paintings. Drya has taken great pleasures to transform the temporary and delicate nature of flowers into thick acrylic colour, using relief-like texture to overwhelm her canvas' flatness. Colour has always been the driving force, taking the colour from the flowers and subliming it into prismatic vibrancy. Brilliant, magnified blooms in acrylic or simple, delicate visions in watercolour, flowers have been Drya's signature work.
The births and childhoods of her two daughters in recent years have provided new interests for the artist. Whilst continuing her exploration of colour through flowers, Drya (with the inspiration of her children) has begun to look at figurative subjects. The Warhol-like irreverency continues in the flower paintings, but in the studies of her children and their dresses (a family tradition) panache becomes sincerity. This integrity has always been present, but it comes to the surface in her sensitive new images. Drya, her husband and two girls live in Fredericton and her studio is on the third floor at Gallery 78.
ARTIST STATEMENT
COLOUR
My work is about relationships of colour. There isn't a colour applied that doesn't react with the ones that already exist. That is the nature of my work. Each stroke is an emotional reaction to the previous brushmarks based on colour.
METHOD
I have been painting flowers for the past fifteen years. Still to this day I am compelled to try and explain, through paint, these small and delicate forms. With my paintbrush they are transformed into large and exuberant exclamations of color on canvas. My work is really all about relationships of color. I paint with my canvas lying flat on the ground and I move around it painting from all sides. I work on several at any given time and move quickly, pouring paint from large tubs onto palettes, mixing as I go with large flat brushes. I prefer to work on a larger scale, which allows me to move a lot of paint over the canvas, building up layers of color as the paint dries. Thick textures become predominant as earlier brushmarks peek through creating a visual excitement that dances over the surface and hints at the process of the painting itself. I consider each of my paintings as one in a series. There are no preliminary sketches as each painting is resolved individually. I begin by applying color in large brushstrokes with no set idea in mind. The second layer is simply an emotional reaction to the first. Eventually an image will start to emerge. Through this process details are eliminated, giving way to simple shapes and vibrant color, leaving an image that is present and powerful.
PORTRAITS
I had no predilection for figurative work and yet I have been painting faces and figures for the past year. It is a record of a major shift in my life. I am now a mother to two young daughters and find myself constantly inspired by the beauty and innocence found in their faces every day. I believe art mirrors life. My painting is a very emotional process; it is the way I see, the way I think and the way I breathe. Although I have fewer hours in the studio, I am gathering inspiration in every activity I do throughout the day. Betty Goodwin said, “In the end, a successful work is the image of our being”. I believe this is the most exciting and the most successful body of work I have ever created and it feels like just the beginning.
AlexanDRYA Eaton, October 2006
