Charisse Abellana

I can work with all kinds of medium, pastels, water color, charcoal, ink on paper, mixed media. However, I am infatuated with oil! When I first used it, I knew oil on canvas is my medium of choice. I love the fluidity and the surprise of painting wet on wet. By painting wet on wet, there is that very thrilling element of surprise, and the layers and layers of paint make it more exhilarating. I love painting the sides of the thick canvas because viewing it from the side is also art in itself. Once I am done, the painting is a finished piece of art, with or without a frame. 

I was trained to mix my own colors, thanks to my mentor. While training to do so, it took a while for me to get it. I would go home crying because “I could not get it.” Then one day, my patience, persistence and practice paid off. By mixing my own colors, I can put on canvas the beauty of the colors only I could imagine and know in my mind. I also knew from the time I picked up a palette knife that I am a palette knife artist. And I have always been. Palette knife paintings are thick, bold, unexpected, almost irreverent in their randomness. But there is always that moment of emotional upheavals every time I put a stroke. The paint thus becomes a sculptural element on the canvas.