The "Please Touch Me Art Show" was my second solo show. It was held in the A-Space located in West Philadelphia (PA) in March 2015. The show included paintings from my "Please Touch Me" series and other works that show my work with texture.

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     The “Please Touch Me” series began with the advice by art teacher, Karen Baumeister, to take a technique and do it until you've exhausted it. This technique I invented involves using acrylic paint and modeling paste extender with a funny wheel-shaped wiry tool. I used the tool to create ridges in the paint and the modeling paste extender adds texture so that you are not wasting so much paint. The tool is only used in the bottom layer and the texture is visible through the layers of paint.

     I then decided I wanted to work in complementary colors. I don't remember which color I used in the bottom layer of the first painting. It was either orange or blue. I applied paint in different sessions alternating orange and blue until I was satisfied with the current painting which has a top layer of orange applied in such a way that it allows the next layer (blue) to show through. The next painting was originally intended to be the complement of this one with blue on top revealing a layer of orange; however the painting decided it wanted to go in a different direction. This second painting, "Please Touch Me: Orange and Blue Sunset" shows tints of both orange and blue on the top layer though there are layers of both colors underneath.

     After working on those two works, in the series which is currently incomplete, I deviated in other ways from the original painting. I discovered that I did not have to use as many layers of paint to achieve the same look as the texture is all in the bottom layer anyway. I also did not need to have a complement to each painting and do not need to use complementary colors. However in the future when I complete the series, I may return to those ideas.

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