Houston conceptually stitches together white gessoed canvas (sky) and the warm tones of Belgian linen (ground). Pulled taut, the stitches and selvage edge become a visual texture—echoing the distant horizon line of black spruce and tamarack imagined far away. The placement of the horizon initiates the composition; once assembled, the canvas is stretched and prepared for painting. Clear gesso is applied to stabilize both materials while allowing their inherent qualities to remain visible.
The “painted color” of the canvas meets the linen to form a dialogue of positive and negative space. Areas left unpainted create a deliberate tension between representational specificity and open visual fields, inviting the viewer to remember, project, and see.
