STATEMENT
I’ve always loved texture in a painting. Peaks, shadows, cracks, all of it. It makes a work of art come alive, gives it depth and enhances its meaning.
Through the years I’ve worked with acrylic, oil, and more recently lime paint. I’ve used and continue to use many of the Golden products. Options like medium (matt, satin, and gloss), gesso, sand, molding paste (light, medium, and heavy), crackle, glass beads, and heavy gloss gel continue to be favorites.
I’ve also explored more unusual materials like dry wall powder, lime spachtel, marble dust, lime putty, micas, and dry pigments. I love the timelessness of the look and feel of these materials. This is what makes up the majority of my small heavily textured works.
Every once in a while out comes the plaster of paris and soon there are many unusual shapes and pieces strewn across my work table. Many will be added into or placed on top of one painting or another.
Awhile back I bought a ballpeen hammer and an adorable little anvil to pound thin pieces of metal into the shapes I want which may or may not end up being stacked and/or wire wrapped. I love my little anvil. Cheapest therapy ever.
Sometimes I paint paintings, sometimes I build paintings. Sometimes I just want ice cream.
BIO
Ava Young was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Although the whole family was creative in various ways, Ava had no interest in art and skipped those classes entirely.
It wasn’t until her daughter was grown and after a move to Tucson, AZ that she suddenly developed an urge to paint. Ava spent the next eight years studying abstract painting and exploring a wide variety of textural materials and incorporating them into a portion of her work. Three years ago she moved to Sarasota Florida where she still lives, paints, and creates.
Over the last fifteen years, Ava’s work has been shown in galleries from Florida to Arizona to Washington state. Her paintings have been purchased by private collectors and she has recently had her work featured on the cover of the Spring 2024 issue of Season magazine which covers the southern Florida art and music scene.
“Art is when you hear a knocking from your soul – and you answer.” — Terri Guillemets
“Round and Round” is a mixed media painting on stretched canvas and measures 36″ x 48″.
