Melissa Mahoney painting a 18-feet by 10-feet painting, using a 48” paintbrush
“I’ve been creating larger paintings in recent years,”Melissa Mahoney says, “and I just created my largest painting to date, 10-feet by 18-feet. It covered almost my full studio floor, with only about 5" left around the edges. It confirmed what I thought would be the case—I really love painting large scale.”
First, Melissa painted the background with neutral colors, including various subtle textures and layers. This created depth and contrast as a base. For the foreground she made large black strokes, using a large brush that she commissioned a brush maker to create—it is 48” tall. She loaded the brush with carbon black paint and began striking the canvas in bold, circular shapes. She knew the composition that she wanted, and the painting really came alive on the canvas.
Melissa loved the process of creating this painting. When she had painted smaller, she used comparatively small hand and arm movements. To paint at this larger scale, she used her whole body. The canvas was so large that she had to walk on it to make these brushstrokes. She was really “in” the painting. Says Melissa, “The experience of creating in this way is immersive.”
She has another blank canvas—the same size—and it’s ready to go. Using this same large brush, she’ll paint that the next canvas in the coming weeks, using different colors and with a new composition.
To work in this larger size, Melissa needed the right brush. Previously, she purchased handmade brushes from a master brush maker, so Melissa reached out to her to create a custom brush.
More about the painting
The painting is titled Awakening. It is painted with acrylic paints on canvas and is 18-feet by 10-feet.
It captures how Melissa personally felt at the moment. As some of the quarantine and shelter restrictions are lifting, she has a renewed appreciation for the freedom that comes with moving around more easily and interacting more closely with people.
Awakening speaks to renewal, revival, and awareness. It feels like this painting expresses these concepts.
The energy of the strokes is contagious, and the balance of a completed circle and a half-circle add dynamic tension to the overall composition. Melissa had this basic arrangement in mind before she started painting, but how it comes together is not always totally predictable. That is the part that she likes as well—the unplanned, yet deliberate, strokes and composition.
Awakening | acrylic on canvas | Melissa Mahoney | 2021
About Melissa Mahoney / Abstract Painter
Melissa Mahoney (U.S., b. 1965) is an abstract painter whose work features dynamic, circular brushstrokes.
Melissa was selected to be an artist resident at Cubberley Artist Studio Program (CASP) in Palo Alto, California, where she has a studio space from July 2021 through October 2021. Melissa was on the wait list for almost three years when, in Winter 2020 her official application was accepted for her Summer 2021 residency. It’s a competitive program and other artists in the program are from Spain, Greece, and France. Their mediums range from painting to sculpture to paper making.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Melissa grew up in a family of artists. She studied at the University of Georgia where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She went on to complete graduate work in Cortona, Italy, studying calligraphy and hand lettering. Her calligraphy skills transferred to her abstract paintings, in which she uses a range of brushes including large, round, Chinese calligraphy brushes.
Her early works show her technical mastery and emphasis on realism. Her interests later shifted to abstraction, moving further away from the subject and working with only color, form, and texture in her paintings.
Mahoney is inspired by the Japanese aesthetic, especially the ensō, a Japanese word meaning “circle” that symbolizes strength and enlightenment. While an ensō is traditionally drawn in one continuous stroke, Melissa creates her circles with multiple brushstrokes and calls them Vortices. Her goal is to express balance and dynamic tension.
Both domestic and international collectors include Mahoney’s work in their portfolios. The US State Department recently selected one of her paintings for the US Ambassador’s Residence in Papua New Guinea. At TED2020 and at the TED2020 Staff Retreat, she held Art Discovery Sessions where she led hands-on abstract painting workshops for TED attendees and staff.
Mahoney’s home and studio are in Palo Alto, California.
Additional: Interview with the master brush maker
Elizabeth Schowachert, master brush maker, has been making handmade paintbrushes for over 10 years.
Q: What did you use to make this 48” brush? And what are the unique things about it?
Elizabeth: One of the first steps of the process is determining what size and materials to use to make the ferrule; the ferrule holds the bristles to the brush handle. I typically use porcelain or stone, but for this large-sized brush, I repurposed a vintage wooden bucket that had been used to collect maple syrup. I like bringing old materials back to life. I deconstructed it and then rebuilt it using waterproof adhesives and metal reinforcement. Next, I attached the bristles—which are made of horsehair—to the ferrule. Then, I attached the ferrule and bristles to the bamboo brush handle. I harvest and cure the bamboo myself. I also reinforced the brush handle so that it could stand up to bold painting strikes on the canvas.
I wanted to create something that was the larger size that Melissa needed, but also to make it so that it wasn’t unwieldy to handle. Through sketching and testing materials and proportion, this brush came together. I was really pleased with the result.
Q: Where did you learn to make brushes?
Elizabeth: I am fortunate to have spent a lot of time in Asia and as a result has grown to love the culture, place, and people. During my time in Taiwan in particular, I became interested in the tools and materials used by artists working in the guóhuà and Sumi-e style of painting and especially in handmade papers, and brushes. Over the years I have adapted many of these materials/processes into my own brush making, which I feel falls into the category of contemporary Sumi-e.
