Green, Gray, Mars Violet 

Gregg Renfrow made this painting, Green, Gray, Mars Violet, with acrylic on canvas. These are very much the traditional materials of fine art painting, but with Renfrow, the *application* is the thing. You can see that he has dragged his colors vertically, resulting in an image that almost seems to be in motion. Think about the physical act of applying these strokes; the painting becomes a record of the artist's process, like the grooves on a vinyl record. There is no visual trickery here, just a very straightforward, almost rote action. Yet the result is ethereal. The blurred colors suggest atmospheric effects, and the texture of the canvas creates a soft, diffused effect. It's a dance between the concrete and the ephemeral, the intentional and the accidental. By understanding how Renfrow made this painting, and what his materials offered him, we can better appreciate how it achieves its effect.