I have also recently found inspiration in Jackson Pollock (1912-1956). He was an American Abstract Expressionist Artist known as ‘Jack the Dripper.’ This name nickname was given to him by art critics after he developed the dripping technique to create much of his artwork. The dripping technique was an evolved form of Breton’s Automatism. Pollock would lay out huge canvasses onto the floor and drip liquid paint onto its surface. Using this technique, Pollock believed that he was inside the painting, that his artwork was a part of himself. “My painting does not come from the easel. I prefer to tack the unstretched canvas to the hard wall or the floor. I need the resistance of a hard surface. On the floor I am more at ease. I feel nearer, more part of the painting, since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be in the painting.” (Pollock, 1951) His paintings taught me not to be afraid of trying something new in terms of technique. After all, it could be the foundation of something amazing.
James Telford 