Leather and Lace

Laced leather connect these two shapes together in this detail of Red Onyx III by Harkrader. Thick medium embedded with sand and pumice mixed into the white paint anchor the left lace. Inside that shape lives a small collage. Tension is created as the leather grips the black shape on the right. Living inside this black shape resides a small collage embedded in thick medium of cloth and pumice obscured in the black paint.

'Red Onyx VI' resides in the District of Columbia

Detail of Red Onyx VI exhibits approximately a 9x12 inch area at the bottom center section of the canvas face. The actual canvas size is 60"x48". This collage of figures living within the composition is minimal compared to the large red shape that lives above this selection and they give the canvas an erotic tilt. Harkrader's 'Onyx' series is homage to Rothko in the use of a large rectangle located below or above a smaller rectangle as seen in Rothko's fluid color washes on raw canvas. The difference is Harkrader has embellished his canvases to include embedded elements living above, below and beside the rectangles. Deeply embedded collage, fibers, copper, pumice, sand, coal, glass and other media occupy this complex composition described by one viewer as 'Rothko on steroids'. This canvas was sold by Aaron Gallery in Washington, DC to a neighborhood collector.

Compositions Composition

The composition above has a very granular and textured surface that is embedded with sand, pumice, glass, plastic and fibers. 'Composition' from the Lyric series has very lyrical language. The shapes with fibers are instrument like, musical, an invitation to perform a stringed instrument. Antique sheet music and Greek text collage is embedded in addition to a 3 dimensional element of a black and white gently curved earpiece from a set of eyeglasses that compliment the flow. Other shapes within the composition mimic the bodies of instruments, a cross or crossroads, all surrounded by a heavily textured warm background of gray. 36x48 inches.

Let it Snow!

Today it snowed...& snowed! Peace! Peaceful!

The image above is one of the three canvases sold as noted in the previous post. This black & white with red circle on a blue background canvas is also from the 'Onyx' series (Rothko on steriods). A canvas of heavy textures including coal, pumice, sand, collage, copper and paint. an electrical box located in the lower right section of the canvas opening is 3D. The box is filled with alpha-numeric characters threaded on copper wire and the box is capped with clear 1/8 acrylic plastic. Harkrader worked on an original small watercolor (historical home) that was a part of a bartering arrangement for a unique situation.