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Majestic Morning - Michael Ethridge
Michael Ethridge is a painter, but he could also be classified as a visual chef.
“The abstract is like a food to me, a really good food,” he says. “When you have a good food and you can’t stop thinking about it, and you can’t sleep for it.”
Ethridge’s recipes are elaborate: he’ll mix up a batch of paint and apply a layer, let it set overnight, and then paint another—and another. He works from light to dark, from flat to highly defined. A pallet knife is his spatula as he blends and folds thick ribbons of paint together.
“I try to draw the eye to a single focal point,” he explains. In the final confection, the centerpiece is often a particularly defined twist or swirl of paint. These flourishes look like whimsical ideas that were caught on the brink of taking shape, or maybe they’re peculiar flowers atop a vibrant layer cake.
Like any good chef, Ethridge is also a bit of a showman.
“So many artists are introverts, but I’m the opposite,” he explains. “When I paint in public, I feel like I’m giving a gift to the people.”
Every day this week, Ethridge will be sharing his visual feast on the sidewalk outside Waxlander. Come meet this award-winning artist and watch him paint. The week will culminate in an Artist’s Reception at Waxlander on Friday, July 13th, from 5-7 p.m. Delicious!
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