‘Flight Into Color’

‘Flight Into Color’, 2023

Brook

Watercolor, Acrylic, Gesso on 140 lb Paper – 30″ x 22″

The idea for this work came from a photo of a house with nice gardens in Marquette in the summer. I wasn’t satisfied with the origional version just in watercolor so I reworked the piece with acrylics and blobs of gesso while the whole surface of the painting was wet with water (Wet into Wet). Exciting things spontaneously happened in color and energy.

Brook Powell is an experienced watercolor artist inspired by the wondrous nature of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Creating art since 1985, Brook has established a vast collection of abstract and expressionist watercolor paintings. He graduated from Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan with a Bachelor of Science in Art and Design and a minor in History. Brook feels most connected to his creativity when he is engaging with his community and surrounded by Marquette’s lush forests, streams, and the great Lake Superior.

Brook recognizes the challenges of persevering along a creative path. Diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder in 1992, the pressure of college was brutal, and it was hard to keep up with other students because of delusions, even while medicated. As he persists, he is motivated by master Zoltan Szabo’s words “It has to be an inner drive, or you should be doing something else.”