Emily Boucher

I currently paint from my home in Providence, Rhode Island, at my small studio setup (pictured left.) The limited size of my work station is purposeful; it allows me to be close enough to my still life to absorb and savor its details while still being able to easily glance back and forth to my palettes.

 

I always paint from life; much of my process stems from the flickering decisions of my brain as I struggle to decipher and then distinguish the boundaries between the object's colors and facets. Painting from life also allows me to feel more connected to the foods and objects as I can touch, smell, or taste them at any time. 

 

Because I mix all of my colors prior to touching paint to board, my process is split into stages: 1.) creating up the still life; 2.) mixing all of the colors, and then 3.) applying the paint while making color adjustments as needed. Most paintings are completed in three or less sessions. 

 

I keep a palette of over 85 wet colors and 3 different whites. The paint is organized first by color and then by pigment type. I keep an updated color key at eye level and also organize my tubes methodically in numbered storage containers. This is done to maintain an easy and time efficient "re-fill" system when my palette runs empty or dry. I generally do not use mediums, but lately I will occasionally turn to Gamblin's Neo-Megilp to adjust the consistency of a mixed color when trying to encourage the final-most strokes of paint to stick to an already wet and heavily-worked surface.

 

Chiefly I use a direct method of painting. I choose to make 80-90% of my marks with a palette knife as I feel that, at the minute scale of my paintings, applying the paint flatly by knife allows the color to be expressed more clearly than though the ridges and bristle marks left commonly by a heavily-loaded brush. I paint almost exclusively on boards because I depend on the predictability of a sturdy surface.

 

I warmly welcome any questions or comments. You may reach me through my contact page, which can be found at the top right of this page.

 

I am happy to discuss commission inquiries, but at this time can only accept a very limited amount of them.