LEMON AWNINGS

Lemon Awnings—this was my first ‘official’ painting, and one that I felt entirely comfortable with. It captured a sense of summer through a nostalgic glimpse of linen awnings. The white shadowed with grey evoked this feeling of melancholy that sometimes filled me after long periods in the sun. Yellow recalled a mix of citrus drinks, lemon slices and sunshine, an homage to backyard memories with my parents in the 1960’s.

During the painting, I was focusing on something sharp, precise, and explored my obsession with arithmetic and stripes. I was new to oils, having moved from acrylics, and was thrilled how the oil paint was sexy, slippery, and correctible—and how I could achieve such subtlety and richness. When I considered the painting finished, I experienced the dull, conclusive moment where I knew I mastered the paint.

–STELIOS author of The Oculus