Ita Bullard
Weaver of Dreams on Canvas
I
After Degas
Hunger
By Lucas Baker
and she enjoys the physical contact with the canvass. “When I touch the canvas, I feel so close to the process that I become filled with what I call genetic memories which guide me in a physical as well as mental and emotional dialogue with the work. It takes me into another dimension that offers much more than the studies of constructive forms that I have made over the years.” “When you are young you begin by being very free in form and intention, but then you learn all the contemporary fashions and you study the techniques of the masters. Then, after more time, you wish to return to that more childish phase, that freer moment in time, so that the canvas can evolve and bring out things that you did not even think about, things that come from another place. That’s what I like, mostly. “My work, many times, has no preconceived notions. I let the canvas speak to me rather than just start from a visual composition. I would rather let the canvas and colors tell me what the composition should be than to intellectually establish the forms. At times, it is important for me to attempt to paint with the old master’s techniques and subjects. I do this for my own development as an artist and to explore imaging with oil as closely as possible to the way they might have.” “I consider my art a gift to myself. I am humbled by the process and am forever seeking to advance my ability to evoke emotion through the painting. Most of the time I look at my worktable and pick colors without a plan. Other times I will decide to try to channel a painter and his/her style. If I were to try to copy van Gogh’s style intellectually, I would fail. But after intense study of him and his techniques I can begin to simply “see” the images as they take form in front of me. I do not copy the masters but interpret them in my own way by sharing their vision, style and techniques. My ambition is to approach them and benefit from their experience, not to emulate them.”
ta Bullard creates original art with an eclectic mix of techniques and absolutely no pretension. Her muses have come from deep within her spirit to find fulfillment through many years of dedication to authenticity and honesty of expression. There is no other painter like her. Although she still seeks to evolve both techniques and scope of her new projects, she is at rest and happy with all her work to date. This work forms a continuum that reflects an inner life. To view her work is to look at her soul “through a glass brightly.” Her abstracts can bring you into an alternative universe. Her lack of pretension creates few boundaries that could keep the viewer out. The colors speak for themselves and the shapes sometimes change before the eye, like clouds in a bright sky. The paintings are alive. Oil is layered, the color applied in such a way that changes of light in the room dramatically change the appearance of the paintings. They breath, they sing, they are companions with stories and lives of their own summoned up from another world and presented though the prism of the artist and her skills. Her studies of the masters are interpretative experiences of their techniques and subjects. They are important because they provide a further perspective into those works as she expands some aspects and leaves others less articulated. Ita explores canvas and paint on a level that is often pre-conscious in its basic nature and therefore all of her work reflects a certain degree of primitiveness. This primitive approach is, however, informed by years of practice. The result is an artist who can make the unreal real, who can put a dream on your wall or project a muse directly into your heart. Ita paints with knife, brush and hands. Her work is both traditional and childish. She paints with her hands because it “evokes the child within” 40 • Fine Art Magazine