Paradigm Shift, by Jessica Snow

Rainy Tuesday greetings from New York City! I am back at it, but not quite recovered from my trans-Atlantic journey. (Poor little me, exhausted from my Parisian adventure! Cry Me A River, why don't you?)

Today's edition comes to us from painter Jessica Snow, a Northern California native with great senses of color, geometry and humor. Paradigm Shift is based on an original 10"x12" acrylic on paper painting.*

The print is available in three sizes, all printed with archival inks on that substantial, bright white 100% cotton rag paper that 20x200 collectors have come to know and love:

11" x 8.5"
Edition of 200 each $20.

22" x 17"
Edition of 20 each $200.

40" x 30"
Edition of 2 each $2000.

Discovering new artists in media other than photography is one of the things I most enjoy about this 20x200 adventure. I've shown a lot of terrific painters at the gallery since 2003, but by and large photography is the medium that it's best known for.

To be honest, painting was always a little scary for me. When trying to decide whether or not I liked something, or whether it was actually good, I've always felt burdened by everything I don't know about art and its history. Time, experience and a diminishing fear of what other people think have made me bolder. I'm beginning to understand more about what I'm drawn to and why, and starting to see patterns emerge.

Jessica's work contains several characteristics that are becoming reliable draws for me: exuberance, bold colors, a mix of geometry and organic forms, beauty and complexity.

Paradigm Shift is a perfect metaphor for what I'm hoping will come of this day, internally and externally. I'm feeling a little hemmed in by my post-flight haze and the grey rainy day outside. I'm wanting to summon up some brightness that seems a bit buried at the moment.

The geometric planes of the outward edges of Jessica's composition conjure both physical and emotional aspects of my current claustrophobia. The optimist in me sees the flat, cool colors of the perimeter being infiltrated by the light, space and warmth at its center. At the core of the sphere-like form, organic, seemingly uncontainable color pushes heroically upwards into the imposing layers and angles, simultaneously exploding outwards from the broken border at the bottom, messy, bright and unpredictable. It's what I want from the day, and from myself.

As always, you are most welcome to admire Ms. Snow's endeavors however you see fit. Whatever makes you happy, no one's keeping score.

*The original painting is available as well. Email collector AT 20x200 DOT com to inquire.