Artist Statement
Layering hand painted papers allows me to be more expressive and less analytical than when I am painting with a brush. I left behind traditional portraiture because I was just replicating. Now, rather than agonizing over every brush stroke being technically correct, I can reassemble pieces of energetic, abstract paintings to create an impressionistic image. My focus can now turn to narrative and emotion. I'm no longer chasing realism, but rather the importance of the artistic process, energy, and feelings.
I invite a viewer to feel the emotion behind a piece, and then summon their own personal narrative, perhaps even a memory that can engage people in conversation. Each piece can inspire a universal feeling that connects us to our humanity.
Biography
Have brush? Regina Davidson will paint. Born in 1969, a Fine Art Degree from Austin Peay State University, she worked initially in the field of commercial photography. After five years of Corporate America and the dawn of the digital age, Mrs. Davidson left her beloved dark room in order to dust off her brushes and begin a business painting faux finishes. In 1998 walls and furniture became the canvas and the ability to interpret clients' dreams, her purpose. From that point on, she developed an intimate dialogue with color, a mastery of paint applications, and an ability to please even the most discerning of clientele. While working in this field, she broadened her portfolio to include murals, thus coming full circle back to fine art.
Mrs. Davidson has made five appearances on the Home and Garden Channel to demonstrate her painting abilities. Her finishes and murals can be found in homes and businesses throughout the middle Tennessee area. Examples include Brinkman’s Wine and Spirits of Franklin, the Animal Control Shelter of Cheatham County, and Mere Bulles Restaurant. She has had paintings displayed in the Gilded Grasshopper Gallery in Hattiesburg MS, Still Point Online Art Gallery, Xanadu Online Gallery, The Marnie Sheridan Gallery, The Harpeth Art Center and Gallery where she taught classes, Ground Floor Gallery and Studios, and ArtPlus.
My Process
I think of my work as a modern twist on impressionism.
The process begins with expressionistic marks that are painted, splashed, batiked, even printed onto high quality papers. These hand painted papers may contain natural inclusions such as fibers, leaves, or grasses for added texture and visual interest. When dry, these pigmented pages look like non objective paintings in their own right.
Second, I choose my color palette by selecting an array of painted papers to use in place of paint. These pigmented sheets are torn into free-form shapes and applied to my canvas in much the same way a stained glass artist selects and uses glass. The difference being, the ability to layer and thus, create more depth.
