Field Study #725 2018

Terrell James created this "Field Study #725" on a sheet of paper, and it’s a total invitation into her process. The colours are dabbed and swirled, layered like a baker icing a cake – you can almost feel the give of the paint. I find myself drawn to that cluster of turquoise and green in the middle. See how the colours aren’t perfectly mixed? You get these little pops of pure pigment, like tiny revelations. It reminds me that painting isn’t about making things neat. It’s about embracing the mess, the happy accidents. It's like she’s saying, "Hey, this is how I figure things out.” Thinking about painters who work in a similar way, maybe Joan Mitchell comes to mind, for that same sense of letting the painting breathe and evolve. Both artists remind us that art is a conversation, an experiment without a clear end.