From watercolors to pastels. From acrylics to oils. Things change, but they appear to become more beautiful.
“For years after college, I worked in watercolor. I still love the medium for its translucence and inherent beauty,” Mozzone shares. “I became accustomed to ‘saving the whites,’ the practice of using the white of the paper as your lightest light in a watercolor painting and allowing pieces of white paper to remain, adding life and sparkle to a painting.”
In 2010, Mozzone decided to try something different and began taking pastel workshops. She quickly came to appreciate the medium’s expressiveness and immediacy.
“I began to layer pastel over watercolor under paintings on pastel paper,” she explains. “Similar to ‘saving the whites’. I let pieces of the underpainting show through the pastel to add richness and contrast.”
Since 2016, she has translated her ‘Fractured Light‘ series into oil paintings.
“I often begin with a bright underpainting – usually in acrylic – and build up layers of oil paint while letting the underpainting enhance and peak through,” says Mozzone. “Those early years of working in watercolor taught me to think and plan a few steps, especially regarding color. Cobalt Teal from Gamblin is probably my most-used pigment.”
It is often a combination of steps – either panned or by chance – that achieve the desired effect in her work.
“My favorite tool is an old palette knife that I mix with, paint with, and clean my palette with. I have many other new palette knives of various shapes and sizes sitting unused,” she explains. “This palette knife comfortably fits my hand and has the perfect amount of give. I would be heartbroken if I lost it.”
Mozzone’s show opened on Saturday, August 19, at Maine Art Hill at 5 Chase Hill Road in Kennebunk, ending on September 6. We are open every day at 10 AM. All are welcome.
Click to see the PREVIEW on August 16
Click to see the VIRTUAL TOUR on August 18