“Amsterdam”-Acrylic on canvas “paired” by Dr. Sam Lam
Despite my trip to Amsterdam this year (2009) for a course, this painting was done a long time ago at the conception of my building. It hangs prominently at the front office reception because I love it so very much. I love the two shades of blue color that are inverted. I somehow really like to hang two paintings next to each other as a visual pair. To me, it is a far richer experience than a single canvas can convey. I create all of my works on Adobe Illustrator first as my way of sketching before I actually commit paintbrush to canvas. The precision of the lines you see were done with taping/masking with bleed throughs controlled by painting the background color down first to seal in the color so that second color does not pass under the tape. This is very akin to my favorite artist Sol Lewitt’s method of working. The images were projected from a computer then taped off as described above. I also love the background color which is a beige burlap that really sets off the blue very well. Like anything in art, it is hard to explain why it works, but it simply does. Why Amsterdam as a title for this work of art? Who knows, except they look sort of like flowers, which that city is famous for. Perhaps not tulips but my own fantastical representation of that city.
Amsterdam-Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36″ paired