"V for Vendetta... or Valentines..."

Title: "V for Vendetta...or Valentines..."
Size: 24" x 36"
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

Well, the title is based on the subject line from an e-mail to friends. The purpose of the e-mail? To organize a group outing on Valentines Day. As we all know, when you are young and single, Valentines is the last day you want to spend at home, by yourself…or even be alone for a moment. This is possibly why so many single people dislike Valentines day. So, the goal is to have a bunch of friends, married, dating and single to go out for dinner. I mean Valentines isn’t just about celebrating love for a lover, but it’s also a day to celebrate love for others, and sharing it with those who you love.

So, you’re asking, how does this relate back to my painting? Well, this painting started with a color that I fell in love with, turquoise. I found it during one of my shopping excursion over at Gwatzman’s Art Supplies, a little art shop on Spadina, run by a jaded old artist (it’s fantastic!). I saw the color on a shelf, and figured, I’m going to incorporate this into one of my paintings somehow. It evokes an emotion in me, an emotion I can’t explain…is it excitement? Is it happiness? Is it being content? Whatever it is, it’s bottled emotion (pardon the pun).

So, last week I was about to start a new painting that I had in mind, and figured this would be the perfect opportunity to incorporate turquoise into the background. I started applying thick layer after thick layer…mixing in white to lighten it, and then going back to the concentrated dark color, to build intensity…however, as I developed the background, I developed an urge to make the background an important element of the painting. I had to let the painting sit so I could figure it out. I was a little stumped…after a couple of days, and an encouraging conversation with my mom (who is also a painter) about letting go and doing what I wanted to do. I went for it, I figured this would be my first abstract painting I would produce.

From there on in, passion drove the rest of the painting. As I painted, the subject “V for Vendetta…or Valentines….” lingered in my mind. I want to communicate this statement on a canvas, but how do I do it? Easily…with the most passionate color of all, RED! The color of love and the color of vendetta. And within a couple of swipes…there was the V.

I have to admit…striking that V on the canvas filled me with emotion. Before the first strike, my heart began to pound…after the second strike, it got stronger. Never having experienced it before, I let the feeling linger…

The layers of the paint will forever encase the feeling I had at that moment.

I can say a ton about the similarity and ties between love, passion, vendetta and Valentines. But I will leave that up to some poor university student to argue in their 10 page paper.

Oh, and Valentines dinner with my friends, it’s still on, and it’s going to be fun!

I Love You.

Koray (Core-EYE) Salih