august 2010 news
#2 (mile away) | 24 x 36 inches | oil on canvas, 2010 | $1,200 + free shipping
#1 (in the quiet of the matinee) | 24 x 36 inches | oil on canvas, 2010 | $1,200 + free shipping
Heart Beating Drums | 30 x 48 inches | oil on panel 2010 | $2,150 (SOLD)
state of the studio
Momentum is building in the studio as I get ready for the Mosquito Hill show! I’m probably going to call the show, Scraps of Time. Here, I am exploring not only the obvious snapshot of time captured in the paintings, but the idea of my own perception of time. In the process of creating these works there are several steps. Each is an important segment in time for me personally.
First stage - there is time spent exploring via body, mind, and heart as I travel through environments. I walk or jump or run, I look, I experience a particular emotion. The emotions depicted are typically what I consider to be positive and hopeful. There is also the sense playfulness that washes over me as I experience the delight of seeing something through my inner child. This is the stage of awe, but also having my soul tickled! I feel I’m flying at this point, free and unfettered, excited to see something new and unique. I connect with the place where I stand in a very full way, intuitively and emotionally attached to light and dark and shape and color.
Second stage - involves cataloging the first step in my mind and heart, and in physical form through photographs. Occasionally I draw on location. But primarily I shoot photos because the emotional responses come too quickly to capture through drawing. I use the same skill needed to compose a painting as I do through my camera viewfinder. Thus, I imprint my experience jointly in physical and emotional memory. Recall is digital. The visual then triggers the emotional memory of my experience. And then…
Third stage - drawing on paper using graphite. The drawing is based on the photo, but is not a replica of the photo. In the same way I use a camera viewfinder to edit the environment, drawing focuses what I want to communicate. I get to the essence of the emotional perspective desired. I use the drawing to further edit visual and emotional content, and to work out value.
Fourth stage - is the actual painting. Throughout the preceding steps, I have simplified and refined my experience. At the painting stage, it’s time to put all the ideas gathered into a final, single form. The process of painting must satisfy compositional balance, value ranges, the technical aspects of oils, and most importantly, communicate the immensity of my experience and my emotional response to it. By this point, hopefully, I have worked out all the problems and there are no problems. But of course, in painting, there is always a risk of failure. A fine line must be walked to be successful.
Each stage has its own rewards. But when the final painting comes together, it is pure magic and an incredibly satisfying experience :o)
SHOW
Watch for my upcoming solo exhibition at the Misquito Hill Nature Center Art Gallery. The show will be up for 8 weeks starting October 2. The gallery is located at N3880 Rogers Road, New London, Wisconsin.
