What is there to paint?

I’m not going to worry much about my work anymore. Those things; is it original?  Too postmodern?  What is this?  Why am I even doing this?  And it goes on and on.  There is always a story line and I will always love the characters. Maybe it’s joke.  The good kind. 

The I Of Everything

I’ve been painting sketchbook Mandalas since last December and not sure what exactly it’s accomplished but interestingly enough, I can see myself more clearly.  Still not sure which is right and which is left officially but they are great centering and warmup pieces.  The above is July 9 and the one below Jan 18. Quite a difference. I want this to happen with my work this year also and I’m beginning to find a way through the desolation of my soul. 

It’s All Absymal

I’ve let go of FB and I doubt that very many people will read this so I feel quite safe putting all my personal work notes on a blog. I need a diary of the unvarnished truth of what I will be up against this year. A sabbatical from my retirement. A tour of the abysmal space and a visit to the void. Stream of conscious, yess!  Editing, boo!  So whatever I write complete with illustrations may be altered after posting  but only a minimal necessary amount for the sake of clarity not image.  A kind of “fun house” for the psyche, well er, soul. 

Dark Garden

I’m starting my blog again, and posting the commentary here with images no less. FB has failed me as an artistic community with its politics and squabbling etc.  I am in full retreat to a safe corner from which to do a new body of work but just what that means I’m not sure.  Use up all my art supplies in a year? Would love that!  Suddenly, the description of process is the primary focus here, not the images.

Backyard As It Really Is

    
Marley is there, the blood red shadow of the trees and of course the foliage and shed. My work has always included an obsession with my backyards probably because they are my most intimate nonhuman connections. I celebrate backyards although not the type with perfect 2” manicured lawns. Each has its own unique personality and this one has hidden secrets. The dog knows where to look.

Dock Stories: Storm Curtain

So much different work. I have eternity to break through.

The Gathering Storm

Work in progress. I am starting to work on a Timeline Series.  It has a progression in “time” a bit like film.  Horizontal images take you across the landscape and the story at the same time.  It’s a Western story with no trees.

Small Drawings

Small drawings, lots of them, doing them looking at them, and why not just become them before doing a larger piece. That's my plan, back to the age old idea of doing lots of sketches until the thing is just tattooed inside you so thoroughly that its easy to do the bigger piece. I like to work "stream of conscious" but there is something missing in the final power of the images. So...maybe thumbnail and black and white ink on paper?

Starting Over Again When The Work Needs It.

As artists that we love our creative space so it’s hard to change when an idea or image plays out. I have some experience with this and the pain that goes with it. After resting for 2 years, it’s time to pull “It” together again and and reintegrate my very scattered work. It might be interesting and useful if I post my daily progress in a very unvarnished and honest way. This is after all supposed to be a daily blog and those that want to follow it can. I’ll try to be more verbal. Explanations and the thought process behind them are an important discipline to master. Such is one way we know ourselves. I love the “process” and like to look at the whole messy convoluted thing not just the final product. This gives me a way to do it and also a way to share. 

The center cannot hold.