oil/canvas 8 x 8 x .75 As a painter who works both in oil and watercolor, I have worked my way into a seasonal rhythm that satisfies my needs...oil in winter and summer; and watercolor in spring and fall. Both processes take up lots of space in my small studio, and, with clean up and several ongoing projects, the chaos is just too time consuming to pursue both simultaneously. That said, this small painting is my personal introduction into oil painting season. There is always a bit of trepidation involved....like the beginning of each and every painting, only magnified by the change of mediums.
Keep it simple. Get the feel. Stretch your boundaries. Handle the brush with softness. Channel the viscosity. Many things to keep in mind. The subject became the water-filled iron pot that sits atop our wood stove, its purpose to re-humidify the air. Checkered napkin left from a holiday dinner that never happened. Originally, I had stuck a pine branch through the handle. That was painted out... just like the minimalization trend that has infused my brain, I am, these days, bothered by too many pieces-parts in the subject matter. Besides, I like the negative space inside of the handle. Having more "background" space allows for greater creativity in the painting process and a more restful feeling, something, I believe, we are all craving these days. At the very end, I impulsively used a bottle cap immersed in paint to print some circles on top. That might have been a mistake, but the next day I was pleased with the result. That act satisfied my wabi-sabi need for chaos in a subject that can easily, for me, dissolve into too much sweetness.
I am satisfied and ready to move on.
