On a recent trip to Seattle, I was strolling around near Capitol Hill and stumbled upon a window showing these large colourful and textured art pieces. I literally did one of those cartoon-style double takes where the head is immediately transfixed by a sideline item, while the feet, oblivious, just carry right along down the sidewalk. Unfortunately, the gallery was closed but through the window I could see that what I originally thought were canvases, looked to be shattered glass. I took a blurry picture through the window for future stalking purposes … and then disposed of it when I found these:
‘Ceto’, 30″ x 30″
‘Properpina II’, 40″ x 70″
‘Eftychismenos’ 30″ x 30″
Upon said stalking, I discovered that this was the work (and gallery) of Cassandria Blackmore, a California-born artist who now splits her time between Seattle and San Francisco. Her work has become known world wide because of her reverse painting technique on glass. What is reverse painting, you ask? Let’s allow Miss Blackmore to explain (photo via Carmel Magazine):
Imagine a sheet of glass in between you and me. The first stroke of paint that I put down is the first stroke that you as the viewer sees. It is almost as if the viewer is on the inside of the painting. Whereas if I were painting on a canvas my very last stroke would be the first stroke the viewer would see.
But she doesn’t stop there. Once a panel is finished she smashes it to pieces so that she can then reassemble it in a frame. Sounds like an insane amount of work, right? Well, it’s worth it! Her abstract pieces are these gorgeous beds of colour to begin with and the watery glass only adds to the depth to them. The glass itself adds an element of surprise because, although she decides where and how to smash it, the glass breaks up as it pleases. Sometimes creating thousands of minute pieces, other times long shards.
You literally want to eat this work, that’s how good it looks. I LOVE these two that are in more muted tones:
‘Olympus’, 20″ x 20″
‘Kapnos IV’, 30″ x 30″
These photos are all from Cassandria Blackmore’s website and in my opinion they just don’t do the work justice. I don’t mean any offence, I just want the world-wide-web audience to see what I saw in that window; pure art candy perfection! If you’re ever in Seattle, stop by her gallery at 1115 East Pike St. for a peek at the real deal … oh, she has one in San Fran too!