like clouds 1 by Steven Schroeder

Steven Schroeder

like clouds 1, 2023

watercolor and acrylic on paper

14 x 20 x 0.1 in

The title is taken from a short poem (a jueju, more or less) I composed while meditating on patterns left by salt spread on concrete and stone walks in my Chicago neighborhood to keep ice from forming:

salt leaves ink brush lines
on gray stone like clouds
when blue sky meets brown
earth it takes me home

The snow has mostly melted quickly this winter (2022-2023) and served as a vehicle for the chalk white salt on gray and gray brown surfaces broken at intervals by straight lines (gaps between paving stones and expansion joints in sidewalks) and by cracks and fissures formed (in spite of the gaps) with variations in temperature. The resulting patterns often make me think of landscape paintings done with ink and brush on rice paper, created as much by water carrying ink across the surface of the paper and the paper absorbing it as by the artist holding the brush. This piece is the first in a series playing with that process using water media on paper.

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From Steven Schroeder

Kasandra, 2023

watercolor on paper

14 x 20 x 0.1 in
serenity, 2023

8 x 8 x 0.125 in
coming from the north 2, 2023

watercolor and acrylic on birch panel

8 x 8 x 0.125 in

$100
wuxing: meditation on process 3, 2023

watercolor and acrylic on birch panel

8 x 8 x 0.125 in

$100
wuxing: meditation on process 2, 2023

watercolor on paper

20 x 14 x 0.1 in
wuxing: meditation on process 1, 2023

acrylic on birch panel

8 x 8 x 0.125 in
like clouds 2, 2023

acrylic on paper

14 x 20 x 0.1 in
making earth 3, 2023

watercolor on paper

14 x 20 x 0.1 in

View All Artworks

Additional Details

Additional Artworks

Kasandra, 2023

serenity, 2023

coming from the north 2, 2023

wuxing: meditation on process 3, 2023

wuxing: meditation on process 2, 2023

wuxing: meditation on process 1, 2023

like clouds 2, 2023

making earth 3, 2023