Select Comfort
acrylic on canvas
16" x 20"
I began this piece about Select Comfort, the manufacturers of Sleep Number beds, by imagining myself reclining and immersed in clouds. From a horizontal position, I photographed my left hand and both feet in front of me. I merged the picture of my extended limbs with a digitally contrived imaginary cloudscape. After conceiving of the idea in this format, I began to work with acrylics on canvas. I painted blue-gray layers of opaque cloud formations using varying tones of cerulean and ultramarine blue. Once the initial concept was blocked in, the painting became about playing with layers of color. I used translucent glazes on top of the opaque layers to achieve luminosity. The warm glazes I added in the foreground reference a sunset happening in the nearby stratosphere. As verified by the digital reading on the remote, the reclining figure/viewer is enjoying a Sleep Number setting of thirty-five as she drifts into slumber. Some Sleep Number settings, which occur in multiples of five, are dreamily floating through the sky and are also printed on the blue blanket from which the recliner's feet are peeking.