“Enso”

“Reflections Reflections VI” by Helen Frankenthaler, 1995

It was a special day away from the studio when I traveled along the Arkansas River to the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College to view “Fluid Expressions: The Prints of Helen Frankenthaler.” This was my first introduction to her prints and the creative energy was palpable in the gallery as I strode from one artwork to the next, mirroring the spontaneity and immediacy I’d experienced from her paintings in museums and books.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I came upon “Reflections Reflections VI.” The swirling motif Frankenthaler used in the right side of the lithograph was similar to a design I recently devised for a new Hanji artwork still drying on my work table back in Salida. Wow! Belonging to the group of Women Artists known as Abstract Expressionists, Helen Frankenthaler has been a giant in my mind for her work, inventiveness and energy. And here was a similarity in each our pieces – her artwork created in 1995, mine in 2019.

My artwork with the swirls is still untitled – it’s that new and fresh. The idea for using circles came on a morning spent drawing and painting calligraphy characters, both real and imagined. Many times these explorations start with the “Enso,” a variation on a circle. The circles soon became spirals, which became the inspiration for an artwork I will unveil soon. But first, the title … perhaps “Subliminal Impressions of Helen Frankenthaler”?

Work in progress by PJ Bergin, 2019