Helen Utsal

Do you work from photos, or from life?
Both. Working from life 'en plein air' is the best in many ways, but not always practical when you are working on large canvases. Sometimes I will do a smaller painting first, and then a larger version in the studio. Photos are amazing at capturing a moment and very useful as reference. You can take a little from here, a little from there. I never see the point in recreating a photograph literally.

What is your process?
I like to put my energy into the whole object. I stretch the raw canvas thinking about what it will be. The canvas gets two or three coats of gesso. I base out my idea with acrylics, preferably metallics in a fast loose way. Then with oil paints I pop out negative shapes, and drag complementary colours across the underpainting. I love the look of scumbled paint and use it liberally to capture the energy of the subject matter.

Why do make such big pictures?
I really want the viewer to feel like the painting is a window. Or a door. The larger work is easier to 'enter' - it brings a bit of the majesty of the forest into a home environment. Particularly when working in Whistler, I found that the grand and dramatic homes were the perfect backdrop to the large dramatic paintings.