Fill in the Blanks- Artists as Collectors

Painter Denise Bellon West is this week's guest blogger for our Artist as Collector series.

Whisperer (Denise's title for the piece)
Acrylic and mixed media on plexiglass
©2012Damon La Scala

I know that I have to have a painting when I need to catch my breath every time I see it. It stirs something inside me. It could be the colors or the feeling it evokes or whatever... This was one such painting by Damon La Scala. 

I’d had my eye on it for several months, maybe a year. It was at a design center in Denver where I used to get my framing done when I lived there.  It was a non-representational piece created by pouring paint on a sheet of acrylic and then backed with gold leaf.  All I could ever see was a tribe of Indians (I get weak in the knees when I think of the Old West and riding free on horses) splashing through the water. 

It always there waiting for me when I came in.  Eventually, I decided I couldn’t be without it any longer.  I had it framed, and it is now in my studio as a constant inspiration to keep me from putting too much information in my paintings. 

Let the mind fill in the blanks. Let the mind wander and dream. 

Let the imagination go free!

Denise Bellon West recently moved her home and studio from the mountains of Colorado to be surrounded by the red rocky monoliths of Sedona. Her passion for the West - and for life can be seen through her dynamic compositions, expressive brushstrokes and courageous color.

Seeing Red

New Year. New Post. And for guest blogger, painter Denise Bellon West - in the coming days, New Home and Studio.


Here's Denise's selection for this week's Artist as Collector Series.  As you can see, the painting is off the wall and ready to be crated for the move to its new home.

Phase Blanket
Acrylic on Canvas
©2012David DeVary

I knew I had to have this painting the moment I saw it. I saw the color, it made me gasp, and that was that. The blanket was bright red; the woman was beautiful; she was blond (being one, I’m maybe a little partial to blonds); the stripes and angles energized the painting for me. But mainly, it was that RED!!! Or maybe the stripes!! No, it was the beautiful blond woman, with her coy look!! No, the red!! 

In fact, it was all those things.  It was painted just for me. 

It was priced VERY high, for me, (heck, my first car – a Toyota Celica - cost less than this, brand new!), but I knew I had at least that much in my checking account. I didn’t care. I should have haggled on the price, at least a little (I will never hear the end of it from my daughter and my husband, who were with me at the time and thought I’d lost my mind!). But all I could think of was that I wanted to see this painting every day. It would excite my eyes every time I saw it.

         That was several years ago, and it still does. 
         Thank you, David DeVary for the spark this painting adds to my life.  

Good luck in your new home Denise!

What work of art adds spark in your life?