Liquid Lace by Calie Durant

Acrylic on canvas
30" h x 30" w - unframed

Calie Durant is an abstract painter whose work bridges a lifelong dedication to visual communication with a sustained commitment to a practice shaped through layered inquiry and revision. She studied graphic design in art school before earning her BFA with a major in painting. Raised in Hawai‘i, she was drawn early to the relationships between color, form, and atmosphere, sensitivities that would later inform both her design career and her studio practice.

Before turning fully toward painting, Calie worked in branding and advertising as an art director, designer, and strategist in New York and San Francisco. She led creative teams and crafted cohesive visual systems across web, mobile, and print. During this time, she partnered with renowned clients including Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, Ogilvy & Mather, and Landor Associates. This background refined her approach to composition, structure, and visual clarity, elements that now underpin the disciplined yet expansive nature of her abstract work.

In 2021, Calie moved back to O‘ahu with her husband and two children. She now paints from her home studio in Honolulu, where a sense of rhythm, openness, and spatial awareness informs the ongoing evolution of her practice.

Liquid Lace captures the intricate, woven patterns of the ocean’s leading swell, revealing the unseen currents that guide us through the changing tides of life. Layers of turquoise, blue, and deep ocean tones move across the surface, while delicate linear patterns and fluid marks echo the rhythm and texture of water in motion.

Rooted in the dynamic beauty of the ocean, the painting reflects the unseen forces that shape our path through moments of uncertainty and change. The sweeping swell becomes a visual expression of movement and direction, reminding us that we are often carried by currents we cannot see, even when the way forward feels uncertain. Rather than resisting every shift, there is power in recognizing the forces already moving beneath the surface and allowing them to guide us forward.

Liquid Lace invites us to trust the movement of what lies beneath, embrace the changing currents around us, and move forward with a sense of purpose and possibility.  - Calie Durant