WHY I PAINT

I was born with the desire to draw and paint. When I visit a museum I imagine myself alive in places and times depicted in master paintings. But I am not painting there. So, I feel very lucky now to reference my own painting history and master works for motivation and inspiration.

Painting Maine’s varied landscape lifts my spirit. I imagine Pissaro and Cezanne painting together in the Oise River valley north of France. Did they mix their paint in the studio before venturing into the open air? Or did they mix their paints while on site? I’ve tried both.

When I look at Vermeer’s “Woman Holding a Balance” I wonder, was he influenced by “Madonna del Parto” by Piero Della Francesco? Like most Dutch artists Vermeer may have traveled to Italy in the mid seventeenth century. Also, he had converted to Catholicism upon
marriage. I wonder, was Vermeer’s “Woman Holding a Balance” depicted as a Madonna? Her bowed head is framed in a halo-like rimmed hood, and her jacket is parted to show her pregnancy. This is similar to Piero’s depiction of the Madonna, but was it intentional?

Did Antonio Lopez Garcia view Piero’s work? Garcia traveled to Italy in 1955 on a scholarship to study Renaissance painting. Was “Greek Head and Blue Dress” his response to “Madonna del Parto?” Did he paint the blue dress transparently thus alluding to the madonna parting her robe to show her pregnancy. These are questions I ask myself, and why I respond with a painting like “Time for Cake.”

I live this cycle of balance. I paint more than anything else I do. I go back to the past for information, wisdom and inspiration and that moves me forward to paint for the mastery of it.

Tina Ingraham June 26, 2025

HOW I PAINT

A look through a viewfinder divides my vision of the subject into fractions and I clearly see where strong contrasts meet. I mark those on the canvas with charcoal. I grind paint onto the palette with my knife, and with broad brushstrokes I weave large amounts over the canvas with a hunt for an overall spirit. Varied textures describe my search for spacial relationships. Distance or foreground is implied with thin washes or scraped off paint. Thick paint may identify form, middle ground or detail. As I filter through cognitive, physical and intuitive practices, my engagement with the work ceases being a record of my process. The painting materializes with a spirit of its own.

September, 2020