Featured Artist Katy Bishop

Artist Katy Bishop creates vibrant abstracts using alcohol ink and a serendipitous painting technique. See more of her work by visiting her website.

 

 

I love alcohol inks. Other mediums, such as oils, acrylics, pastels and wax, never gave me the pleasure and excitement I feel when I’m painting with alcohol inks. They can be transparent; they can be deeply pigmented.

 

 

I can create wild abstracts with bold, vibrant colors that pop or expressionistic landscapes that emotionally connect with a sense of peace and harmony. I’ve learned that the control we each want in our lives always results in growth and change. You cannot control alcohol inks any more than you can control the changes that occur in your life.

 

 

Alcohol ink art is all about letting go and embracing the unpredictability of the medium. I’m always astonished by the unexpected results.

 

 

I loved my high school classes at The Chicago Art Institute. But being a starving artist was not in my plans. I moved to Los Angeles and became an award-winning TV commercial producer. Creatively I was collaborating with great teams, but everything was about someone else’s vision.

 

 

Now it is my time to create my own vision. Sometimes I have an inspiration, sometimes I find the story halfway into the painting. Sometimes the artwork seems to create itself. It’s amazing what you can create with just a few drops of ink and some alcohol. Each piece is so unique and unpredictable, which is what makes each day in my studio so exciting!

 

 

Painting reverse on glass or plexiglass intrigues me. I have an idea and I reverse my thinking to paint it. Then I turn the glass around to see if I accomplished my vision. Sometimes I frame it in a shadowbox, which allows the light to create a shadow of colors on the paper at the back of the frame.

 

 

The scans cannot show this dimension which always provokes a compliment when viewed in person. In Lines, I created one mood (reverse) on glass and another on paper and mounted them with a ½ inch separation in a shadowbox frame to create a multilevel artwork.

 

 

I also paint traditionally on synthetic paper, which is a nice change of pace. The opportunity to create an artwork that is upbeat and positive inspires me every day.

 

Katy Bishop invites you to follow her on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

 

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