“Crossover” ©Ruth Armitage, 36″x36″ Oil & Wax on Panel $2500

I’ve been on vacation, but before I left I was able to finish this painting. It is a large abstract, Oil and Cold Wax on Panel, 36″x36″. I have been enjoying using a high horizon line in my most recent paintings, and began this one with that idea in mind. As I chose colors for the work, I knew that I wanted a warm dominance with pale blue and green accents.

I used a new (to me) color by Williamsburg oils called Montserrat Orange for the warm terra-cotta undertones. It is a lovely, rather coral tinged orange that I fell in love with as soon as I saw the tube! This is the first time I’ve used it, and I’m totally hooked 🙂

As a painter, I’m always interested in knowing what each brand’s colors are made with. The pigments used in Montserrat Orange are listed as Titanium Dioxide Rutile, Zinc Oxide, Diketopyrrole-Pyrrole, Diarylide and Quinacridone. I found it interesting that it includes both opaque (titanium) and transparent (zinc) whites, a pyrrole orange, a diarylide yellow and my favorite, Quinacridone.

Williamsburg describes this color as “One of those mysterious colors that could feel like pale, warm apricot, or in the right take on an almost rosy, pink glow.” For me, I immediately loved the name, which reminded me of the golden rocky ridges of Montserrat, near Barcelona.

Ironically, for such a warm painting, the title refers to the pale blues and greens, and the dark violets and greens in the upper dark areas of the painting. As I worked on this painting over the course of a few weeks, each time I faced the panel, one of my favorite folk tunes played through my head over & over: “The Water is Wide.”

It is a rather sad tune, and I wanted to allow the viewer to bring their own meaning to the work, so I shortened the title to “Crossover” as an allusion to the lyrics “I cannot cross over.”

I’m planning to paint another panel in the same size and colors to hang with this one as a companion. Let me know what you think! I always love to receive your comments.