Counsel Langley: When I Grow Up

Using acrylic, ink and immodest amounts of glitter my work is the balance between two opposing approaches. One, loose painting techniques such as dripping, pours, splatters, which I use to create effective representations of natural elements—weather, water, clouds, smoke, flora, erosion, growth, galaxies . . . . The other approach, that of the tool user, with pen and ink and architects' templates, drafting implements and compasses, I fastidiously draw controlled lines, concentric circles, grids and repetitive dots; these reflect structures and infrastructures that we build.

I am influenced by the look of outer space, computer chips, dramatic weather, electric circuits, decay, rock-n-roll glamour, plans and diagrams, b-rate sci-fi control panels, urban environments, fluid turbulence, engineering schematics and architectural drawings. In the end my dominate subject matter remains the human condition; why and where we build, how we feel, what we do, and what happens when these things intersect.

By the way, musicians IOU. Someday, with my lines, dots, colors and sparkles, I hope to do what you do with an eight letter alphabet.

—Counsel, 2009

Native to the Northwest, Counsel Langley's award-winning work has been exhibited regionally in numerous solo and juried shows, published in select book projects, such as, Jennifer Borges Foster's Filter II and Visual Codec's One Shot, and is held by Seattle City Light's Portable Works Collection. Langley received a BFA in Metals from Massachusetts College of Art, Boston in 1999. Metalsmithing’s emphasis on small-scale details and rich surfaces directly impacts her technique as a painter.

At present, she resides happily in the Pacific Northwest with her commercial fisherman husband and two children.

WHAT THEY SAID

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
—Robert A. Heinlein

"Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work."
—Chuck Close

"There is no time for cut-and-dried monotony. There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time!"
—Coco Chanel

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

When I Grow Up

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