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| Awakening watercolor 19 x 9.5 |
are entwined within my every brushstroke. Tension shows. Neurotic behavior reveals itself. Confidence uplifts and frees. For me, painting and feelings are inseparable. Painting is, quite frankly, where my inner world resides. It is rare to commune with an individual whose ego does not get in the way of the communion. I have never enjoyed painting landscapes that much. Part of the reason, I'm sure, has to do with a reality-based color palette that is all over the wheel, and whose disparate nature fragments the power of the work. But artists in my classes enjoy the painting of the outdoor scape. And so I deal with it. For me, a limited palette is a must. Colors were pushed. The blue-violet of the sky was brought down to the middle ground. And the grass green was pushed up into the sky. The large tree was not solidified. My response to an early spring landscape: before the first mowing.
Whether inspiration is based on what one sees or on ideas, the artist's job is to react emotionally to what inspires him. Be less demanding of the source of your inspiration and give more guts to the representation of your visions and ideas.
Alex Powers
